Today

Some of the things I thought today –

Man, it has been a looooong time since I last blogged.

I made the right decision.  Part of the reason I’ve been blogging AWOL is because I was making a giant, life-changing decision and I’m pretty sure positive I made the right one.

The end of this semester is going to be insane.  We have two business plans to create in the next month and we were told to expect 40 plus hours of work each week on top of our clinical hours.

Some of the things I did today – 

Went to my first day of clinical practice in long-term care.

Took a glorious, 70* walk on Elmwood with my husband.

Attended night class.  With the curve I scored a 100% on the first exam!

What I ate today – 

A mealy apple.

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A packet of Artisana Cacao Bliss.

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Chocolate Almond Coconut Clif Mojo Bar.

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A low-fat strawberry milk.

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A (salted caramel chocolate nougat) candy from the latest Yumvelope.

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Veggies from Globe Market, ~.25 lb each.

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Thai carrot salad,

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and Greek vegetable salad.

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Lays Chicken and Waffles potato chips.

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Dinner.

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Amy’s Alphabet Soup,

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and a soft pretzel with yellow mustard.

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I also thought a lot about the tragedies at the Boston Marathon today.  If you or anyone you are close to were effected, please know that you are in my thoughts.

Charleston, Day 1 And 2

Hello from the South!  I’m blogging in a spring-ish 50-something degrees (it’s better than Buffalo!).  Actually, I’m blogging from Adam’s computer this trip, so I’ve got to keep things quick.  We are having a terrific, delicious time.

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Breakfast day 1 – brunch at the famous Hominy Grill.

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I got a(n extra spicy) bloody mary.

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And a bowl of she crab soup.

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Charleston is famous for its she crab soup; this bowl was super creamy and loaded with pieces of crab.  I adore anything with sherry.

We ordered a piece of buttermilk pie for the table.

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But it was much drier and less custard-y than we were hoping so we all just took a small taste.

It was a rainy first day so we did lots of inside and driving activities.  We got in some good sight-seeing and scoped out a few spots to hit up during the rest of our trip.

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One of our stops was Whole Foods for stocking up on goodies.  <– chocolate coconut butter packets, it’s good to have you back in my life!

There was froyo next door.

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I didn’t really love any of the flavor offerings so I got a small cup of cheesecake yogurt with tons of popping boba.

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Can’t go wrong with boba.

We went to Hyman’s Seafood for dinner and they brought us complimentary hush puppies.

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Best hush puppies ever; they had the perfect amount of sweetness.

We also started with fried pickles.

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Lots of fried food in that dinner.  I got french fries as my side,

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with steamed shrimp.

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Every component of my meal ended up smothered in tartar and cocktail sauce.  I’m a girl who loves her condiments.

I was exhausted by the end of the day and crashed into bed hard.  Let’s pretend it was the 20 minute stationary bike ride I started the day with, and not the heavy dinner!

Day 2 we skipped the gym and slept in.  Instead I made it a healthy morning by starting my day with an apple.

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Then we headed to Bakehouse for breakfast.

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The offerings were as delicious as the space was adorable.  The cookies and bars looks amazing but the closest we came to them was splitting a caramel marshmallow.

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I also did a toasted marshmallow cappuccino.

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Adam and I shared breakfast.

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We had a mixed berry scone.

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And a piece of Greek turkey strata.

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It was a great breakfast.

We spent our second day exploring on foot.  King Street and Meeting Street provided lots to look at.

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We even got to see dolphins!

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I couldn’t get a picture to save my life, but we saw lots of waving flippers and even a mama/baby combo.

Tastes from the day included…. Praline,

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a drop of the spiciest hot sauce available (I stuck a toothpick in it and touched it to my tongue; I honestly didn’t think it was that hot!),

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honey,

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an Earl Grey macaron (<– squeeee!),

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a KIND bar,

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and some watermelon Zots from one of the many old-time candy stores.

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All good, but I am definitely a lunch eater; when we got back to the hotel to change for dinner I was starving.  Enter the perfect snack –

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Diet coke and Cacao Bliss?  Yes please!

But I sure was glad I saved room for dinner.  We had an incredible Southern meal at Magnolias.

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Bread with ridiculous cream cheese herb butter came when we sat down.

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And we ordered a pimento cheese plate to start.

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Sadly, the cheese wasn’t quite as sharp as I was hoping for, but everyone else at the table loved it.  Pimento cheese was at the top of my to-do list for the Southern vacation though, so I hope to try again tomorrow.

I ordered a Bellini to drink (champagne/peach nectar/and a touch of grenadine),

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but ended up swapping with Adam halfway through for his vodka/creme de cassis/pineapple juice martini.

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For dinner I went with the “Fresh, Local, and Vegetarian.”  You can’t go wrong with a name like that!

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Sautéed spinach, fresh corn salad, roasted carrots, fried green tomatoes with jalopeño pimento cheese, and mashed potatoes.

We were too stuffed for dessert, though the menu listed a cream cheese pecan brownie with white chocolate ice cream that I’ll probably be dreaming about!

In fact, I’d like to be dreaming now; goodnight!

Have you ever been to Charleston?  Is there anything we just can’t miss on our last day?

I Forgot A Title Again!

It is problematically late, but tomorrow’s exhaustion will definitely be worth it.  I spent the first half of the day cuddling in bed with husband.  Literally, the first half.  It was fabulous.  Then we went to lunch and ran a few errands, and I spent the remainder of my day working on a giant project for my internship.  I am 100% finished with it, wahoo!

Brunch from Pano’s.

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Chicken slavaki wrap,

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with french fries.

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I ate half of each.  I’d been craving french fries like crazy but the sandwich wasn’t as exciting.  Not bad, but I’m just not that into chicken; the feta made it.

Iced coffee with Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk and sugar.

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The coffee was salted caramel flavored from Wegmans and it was yummy.  I have a little bit of my cup left and I’m looking forward to it for breakfast.

A giant bowl of Lays’ Chicken and Waffle Chips.

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This finalist flavor was pretty good; the flavor was definitely “chicken.”  Embarrassing sidenote – I was talking with Adam about the dog and I heard “I usually just shake my bag of chips at him,” come out of my mouth.  The juxtaposition of usually with my bag of chips may have been my come-to-Jesus moment about how fat I’m getting.

At least nibbling does help me focus on work; I am 80% more productive with food next to my laptop.  Final snack plate.

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Honeycrisp apple,

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with ~1/2 serving of Alter Ego Quinoa Dark Chocolate.

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The chocolate was fun.  I’m excited to have Adam try some because he adores quinoa.

Dinner was a bit of a failure.  I sautéed frozen carrots and Wegman’s Japanese Stir Fry mix with a packet of Naysoya Shirataki Fettuccine in canola oil, then tossed in a serving of my peanut sauce and let it get nice and crispy.

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Sauce was great.  Veggies were great.  “Noodles” were slimy and terrible.  I ate ~half then gave a bite to Adam who promptly spit his chewed-up mouthful back in my bowl.

It was bedtime two hours ago is time for bed!

…I am so tired I forgot to title this post originally

So I already told you guys the good news.  More on that later, I’m too tired right now to be excited.  I don’t know why I’ve been so exhausted lately – other than, you know, working really hard at my internship and continuing to get in bed after midnight even though up I’m at 6 – but this evening it hit me really hard.  I went to work all day, did a quick grocery trip, then had a major meltdown.  The husband is the kindest man on the planet and he ran out and got us calzones for a late dinner.  We are eating now (and watching “Chopped!”) and then I’m going to pour myself into bed.

Packed breakfast for work.  Cinnamon Apple GoGo Squeez.

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Coconut Chia Bar.  <– very nice, the coconut flavor was great

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Muller low-fat Greek yogurt with honeyed apricot.

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Lunch from the Co-op hot bar.  I was hurrying to photograph because I was on the floor at work and I did not get a good picture.

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A salad base – spinach and romaine with red pepper, cherry tomato, and maple vinaigrette – topped with corn relish and a jalopeño cheddar turkey burger.

Post-meltdown fuel.  We shared a buffalo chicken stromboli and a cheese calzone.

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Mmmmmn!  Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Almost Spring And Almost Celebrating

Today has been just fantastic, one of those days that reminds me how happy I am with my life.  I felt totally blessed.

First, lunch.  I was too busy for breakfast but I did have a nice noon-time meal.  Dannon Oikos Cafe Latte Greek Yogurt.  So smooth and creamy, and the flavor was better than any other coffee yogurt I’ve ever had.

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Cascadian Farm Crunchy Oats & Honey Granola Bar.

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GoGo Squeez Cinnamon Applesauce.

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’twas a good lunch.

But the news I got just before lunch was even better – Adam is going to be a surgeon!  Ok, so it wasn’t surprising news, but it was good to have things confirmed.  Today is the first half of Match Day and on Friday we’ll learn where (and if) we’re going to move.  So exciting!  I opened the e-mail and burst into tears, right there on the Neuro floor.  Apparently I’ve been a little bit stressed.  But I can’t stress enough, how proud I am of my husband!!!

I got home before him this afternoon so I got him a few congratulation gifts.

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I may have stolen a few bites.  2 dumplings,

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and 2 big bites of frosting.

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Yum!

And I got more good news this evening – my night class was canceled!  This meant I had free time to celebrate the real news with Adam.  The past two days have basically been Spring so we took a long walk up Elmwood, in sandals natch.

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My taste buds are even more ready for Spring than my feet.  We wanted to get take-out so we could go home and watch “The Nanny” and I had the hardest time choosing food because I had to have something fresh.  I couldn’t stand the thought of cheddar, popcorn or runny eggs, my usual favorites!

I ended up getting a green juice for our walk.

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And bringing a salad from Ashker’s home.

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I added banana peppers, tomatoes, and kalmata olives to the Roasted Turkey, Apple, Walnut Salad; which also came with spring mix, feta, craisins, and Vidalia onion dressing.  It was exactly what I’d been craving.

Dessert was something amazing.

liz lemon

I’ve been stalking local freezers for weeks and I squealed with joy when I finally spotted Ben and Jerry’s Liz Lemon Greek Frozen Yogurt last night.

Three things you should know:

  1. I adore both lemon and lavender in dessert
  2. I have a legit problem with Ben and Jerry’s ice creams
  3. I recently decided that Liz Lemon is my spirit tv character

I had 1.5 servings and loved every bite.

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Buffalo people – I found my pint at the Elmwood Tops.

Have a great night!

An Alarming Morning

So… My alarm didn’t go off this morning.  I woke up naturally, 5 minutes after I was supposed to have been taking my coat off at the hospital.

Eeeeek!  It was a stressful morning.  And I may not have brushed my teeth yet today (don’t worry, I chugged mouthwash!) but I did have a good shift at the hospital.  I worked on some really interesting patients and managed to get all of my work done on time, in spite of my late start.  <– real talk though, I was only a little bit late; I’m basically a master at speedy dressing.  I even looked sort of cute!

I clearly didn’t eat breakfast, but I did manage to grab my packed lunch out of the fridge.  More black-eyed pea salad.

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A new variety of apple.

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And a half serving of dark chocolate.

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I had a little more chocolate after work too, in the form of a caramel marshmallow egg.

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The Cadbury eggs have nothing on this guy.

Dinner ended up being a slice of buffalo chicken pizza (that’s actually a half slice, I split with Adam) with baby carrots and blue cheese.

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So good.  This was actually just supposed to be a snack but I never could motivate myself back up off the couch again.  I guess that means today’s workout will have to be a Friday affair.

When was the last time your alarm let you down?

Copycat Cashew Chicken

Today’s eats have been mighty tasty.  I could wax poetic about flavors for hours, but we saved up the last two weeks of Castle and are in the middle of a very tense marathon!

Bagel for breakfast.

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A Garlic and Italian Herb Bagel Thin (a new flavor!) with smoked salmon cream cheese.

Fruits and vegetables for lunch, split up before and after work.  Roasted broccoli with lots of melted sharp cheddar before.

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Honeycrisp apple with 1/2 Tbsp melted peanut butter after.

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The apple was good, the cheesy broccoli was better.

Dinner was an absolute success.

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We followed this copycat recipe for Cheesecake Factory’s spicy cashew chicken.  We doubled the sauce and subbed Sriracha for cayenne pepper but otherwise followed the recipe.

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Flipping amazing!  Served with white basmati rice,

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and more roasted broccoli.

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We loved every bite and are eagerly awaiting leftovers for dinner tomorrow.

Single-serve cookie dough for dessert.

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Also amazing.

And with that, I’ve got to go – Castle is blowing my mind.

Do you watch Castle?