Serendipitous Stop

by Emily

Hello from Ohio! I’m so glad we had this long weekend so I had the chance to get over to visit my grandparents. My grandpa is in the hospital at the moment unfortunately, but we’ll get to visit a bit and we’re hanging out with my grandma until Monday.

I went to bed at 3am ~~last night~~ this morning and my alarm went off at 7am so you know I turned to coffee.

Adam and I shared this cup, with a small splash of English Toffee syrup and a big splash of skim milk.

Webster had an appointment to get his booster shots so we headed to the vet’s office on the way out of town. Adam took him alone for the first visit while I was at HLS and I was so impressed today with how brave he was.

He was a total champ on the car road too. Most of the trip was spent like this,

or like this.

And he drank water out of a glass in the cup holder like a little traveler!

When we weren’t fawning over how cute the dog is, we were eating. I didn’t get a chance to pack lunch for myself and I got very lucky with a serendipitous stop. I was hungry and thirsty when I spotted a Chipotle so I asked Adam to pull over,

and then we realized that we were only 2 miles from froyo!

Booyah! You’ve seen my froyo face, but here is my “froyo and Chipotle?!?” face –

self taken in the bathroom mirror because even I have a little shame.

We actually ate our froyo first.

I stuck with a theme and got a small cup of low-fat mint froyo topped with snowcaps, crumbled Andes, Oreos, and fudge sauce.

Swoon.

Then I ate my Chipotle rice bowl in the car.

They let me do a small scoop of rice topped with black beans, fajita veggies, corn salsa, mild salsa, and a tiny sprinkle of cheese.

I topped the whole thing off myself with TONS of green Tabasco. Double swoon.

Other snacks included part of this apple which got warm and gross,

and this baggie of snacks (yogurt pretzels!) from my grandparents’ house.

We made it to Ohio in pretty good time and got to spend an hour visiting with my grandpa before coming home to a gourmet dinner.

I swear eating with my grandma makes you feel like you’re at a hotel!

Homemade cole slaw,

a slice of foccacia,

roasted asparagus,

and enchilada casserole.

I only left a bite or two on my plate but I definitely made room for dessert.

Homemade chocolate pie. I scraped my crust off for Adam (crust is to filling like cake is to icing) but practically licked the rest of my plate clean.

The filling of this was like chewable pudding, so good!

I am stuffed, exhausted, and ready for bed.

1Sep2011

Long Run, Long Day, Short Post

by Emily

My semester won’t be impossible but it does look like shorter posts will probably become a regular thing. I think adding a dog and adding (back) exercise to my life at the start of a new semester was not my most stress-free idea!

Adam drove me to school this morning – his current rotation is the psychiatric facility that’s near my campus so we’ll probably be carpooling a lot the next few weeks – so I was thrilled that my teacher suggested a 10 minute walk around campus at the beginning of class.

It was fun to get moving and in a 4-hour class any minute out of the room is a godsend.

My breakfast pie held me over pretty well but I did start to dig into my packed food a couple of hours into class.

A sliced apple topped with the 90-calorie Barney Butter packet from my HLS swag bag.

I’m typically not an almond butter girl so I was expecting to be unimpressed but I actually loved the roasty flavor and smooth texture of the BB. I guess the other bloggers have been onto something!

I also ate this snack pack of raisins,

and a chocolate from my candy box.

Fuuuuun! I think I’m going to make chocolate boxes a more regular part of my life.

After our class ended I actually hit up the part-time job fair. I gave a couple of resumes out so please keep your fingers crossed for me, though I’m not sure adding a job to my life is the answer right now.

I ate lunch with friends and grabbed this snack pack of hummus with pita crackers from the book store.

There isn’t a convenience store on campus (or the C Store like we called it in Miami!) but the book store does have some pretty healthy offerings. My friend Kim was heading to the mall so I group of us ended up going for funsies. I didn’t buy anything but it’s always fun to walk around.

When I got back to campus, it was time for the gym. It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t pretty, but I achieved my goal. Through a strange mix of walking and running I did 7 miles in 79 minutes. Booyah. I drank a fruit punch Gatorade-2 and I definitely think it helped fuel me through the longer workout.

Speaking of fueling, Adam went to Saigon Cafe for a work lunch and he brought me home his Pad See Eiw leftovers. I pounced as soon as I walked in the door.

After a walk home and shower I was ready to face my replanned evening. We are going to visit my grandparents for the long weekend (fun) but I just found out that I have a responsibility for class on Monday night that will be pretty time-consuming (not fun) so I needed to move around some things. We ended up heading to the grocery store tonight which will hopefully make my weekend run more smoothly (my responsibility involves making chili).

I shared this frozen coffee with Adam while we shopped.

And made myself the quickest dinner I could think of when we got home, tacos.

I scrambled a big scoop (1/2 cup?) of corn relish into two eggs and then stuffed them into taco shells. Topped with spicy salsa and a dollop of light sour cream.

I almost never eat tacos, especially hard tacos, but lately they’ve been rocking my socks.

We had to take Webster on a long walk, which took even longer than planned, so clearly I’m not getting up to workout tomorrow. I’ll have to work on that goal next week.

This wasn’t really a short post was it? It’s possible I’m verbose.

29Aug2011

Back to School Like Rodney Dangerfield

by Emily

Today was my first day back in school and it looks like my semester is off to a good start. Thank goodness too because I was so nervous yesterday that I actually had a teacher nightmare last night! In my dream I must have quit my program because I had just accepted a job as a teacher. It was my first day at the new school and I realized that I didn’t have any lesson plans done!!! I was also freaking out about what to wear (apparently my school had some sort of strange all red dress code) and the whole thing was just fraught with tension. Thankfully my real day of school as a student went much more smoothly.

I drank some Candy Cane Lane tea with skim milk on my walk to school.

I was a little nervous about giving myself enough time to walk to class so I did breakfast in my first class.

The Coconut Chocolate Chip Clif Bar flavor is so good. I ate half of the bar and I’m saving the rest for later; my stomach just wasn’t hungry that early in the morning.

I had another class and then a break just in time for lunch. I am going to post my class schedule but I’m waiting until next week so I’m sure it’s correct. Lunch was simple but tasty. Leftover bbq kale and beans, topped with Tofurky kielbasa.

Plus a GoGo Squeeze applesauce packet and a packet of raisins.

This good combination held me over through one more class and a trip to the gym.

My goal for this semester is actually to go to the gym before my classes (which start at 8 M-F) but I figured I’d try that out a night I actually got some good sleep. My 2pm session on the treadmill went fine though.

I did a 2 minute warm up followed by a “run” that ended up requiring a LOT of walking. I’d prefer to take fewer breaks but considering that I basically took the summer off exercise I’m happy with any level of fitness. Including my warm up and all of my walking breaks, I ran 4 miles in 44 minutes 40 seconds.

Now I’m home for the day and I need to go take Webster on a walk. He was such a big boy on his first day all alone!

21Jul2011

Vacation At Home

by Emily

Some people find that having visitors is stressful, but I think it gives you a great opportunity to be a tourist in your own city. It does help that my visitors are my (funny, easy-going) parents and they pay for everything! When you have guests it’s like you get to take a vacation at home because they force you to view your city with fresh eyes.

Let me tell you though, vacationing at home can be exhausting! We’ve been falling into bed after 1 am every night and this post is two days in one because I just couldn’t make myself sit down at the computer before bed last night. Even with double content I’ve got to keep this quick because otherwise it’ll be another post-1 am bedtime and my parents leave early tomorrow.

Tuesday morning started with a very unvacation-like trip to the orthodontist. But then I took my parents to breakfast at Sweetness 7 Cafe.

S7C is a totally adorable coffee and crepes place; I plan on bringing a good book and camping out for the day eating crepes very soon.

I ordered an iced black tea,

and my parents and I split 2 crepes 3 ways.

Kiss Me I’m Irish – plain crepes with syrup and a cracked fried egg in the center.

Irish Blessing – caramelized fresh apples with melted brie.

Apparently we went Irish for breakfast, and the choice served us well. I don’t have much experience for comparison but these are the best crepes I’ve ever had; so eggy!

After breakfast we walked a third of the loop around Delaware Park so my parents could see the Buffalos.

I continued to get my sweat on by taking advantage of their hotel gym while they got ready for the day. 30 minutes on the elliptical at random level 6. It was amazing to have access to a tv at the gym, especially because I was the only one in there and I could control the remote.

Our next activity was a trip to the Albright Knox Gallery.

I wanted to snap a picture of practically everything, but I controlled myself and stuck to a few favorites.

The first day with a new set of retainers is always super painful so I went with a liquid lunch.

A Vega Vanilla-Almonde Shake and Go Smoothie packet that I grabbed from the co-op on a whim. The flavor was good but not great, and this didn’t do an awesome job of sating my hunger, but I was definitely pleased with this –

And it’s just as well that I was left a bit hungry, because my best meal of the year was coming for dinner. Don’t let the pictures fool you (why are restaurants always so darn dark?!), Scotch and Sirloin is basically a must-go! I never would have ventured there if it hadn’t been for Groupon, but I am so glad that I crossed my fingers and bought the deal.

Adam and I split a bowl of crab bisque to start.

I also got a plate from the salad bar.

Romaine with mushrooms, artichokes, cucumber and French dressing. Plus a slice of the best bread I’ve had since Great Harvest, super duper doughy.

For dinner my dad and I split the two best things on the menu: Fried shrimp,

and the double lobster tail with drawn butter.

Like butter dipped in butter! We were so impressed with this meal, I can’t even tell you. I ended up eating three fried shrimp,

most of one lobster tail,

and all of the veggies.

For dessert we ended up at a candy shop on Elmwood with an ice cream counter.

I went with Ciao Bella Gelato, a half scoop each of key lime pie and malted milk ball flavors.

Fashion note – How cute is the back of this shirt?!

I actually bought this years ago in college but it has a strange, unflattering band around the waist so I’d worn it maybe once or twice. I can’t believe it took me so long to think of pairing it with a high-waisted skirt.

We sat outside of The Spot to eat our ice cream and I also drank a small, non-fat, iced Chai.

– – – Insert time (not enough!) to sleep. – – –

I picked my parents up bright and early this morning for breakfast at Panos. I got the 2-2-2; french toast, sunny side up eggs, and hash browns.

I ended up eating one egg, 1 piece (1 half slice) of french toast, and all of my potatoes. The amount of leftover food was a little annoying considering I ate exactly the portion of the 1-1-1 – from the kids’ menu – that they wouldn’t let me order. However, after taking a bite of my dad’s blueberry pancakes I decided that Pano’s can do no wrong and a little wasted food isn’t a big deal.

Coffee #1 of the day was a tall iced coffee with skim milk from Starbucks.

Did I mention that I’m exhausted?

My parents are sleeping at our apartment tonight so I took advantage of their gym one last time before they checked out. 10 minutes of walking on the treadmill and 30 minutes on the elliptical. I also carried both of my parents’ suitcases up our three flights of stairs and I’d like to count that as strength training!

Our big activity for the last vacation day was a long walk down Elmwood. We stopped in to basically every store and I definitely discovered a few hidden gems.

Mid-afternoon we grabbed lunch from the Globe Market.

1/4 lb each peanut noodles and Thai vegetable salad.

Meh. It wasn’t terrible but I’m honestly not a big fan of Globe.

Whether due to hunger or exhaustion or increased physical activity, hunger hit me hard this afternoon. We ran a bunch of random errands and during that time Adam and I split some new flavors of candy,

and I drank a chocolate milk.

Dinner at Chester’s Cajun Grill was a meal Adam and I had been looking forward to ever since we tried the Smoked Bourbon Chicken Sandwich at the Taste of Buffalo. Of course we had to get the sandwich.

It wasn’t good!! I can’t even tell you how said this made us. It wasn’t terrible, but we could only rate it a 5/10 and the sandwich we tried at the festival was a 9.5/10. I ate most of my meal but only because I was hungry; even the fries were pretty tasteless.

Thank goodness we had good company. We ended our evening with a final trip to the Spot to sit and talk; we are going to miss my parents so much when they fly home tomorrow! Coffee #2 – a grande, iced Americano with skim milk and two sugars – was actually consumed at 11 pm so I could make it through this post.

And I’m done; phew!

18Jul2011

Treat Upon Treat

by Emily

Is it okay if I start every post this week with “phew?” Having visitors is the best kind of exhausting fun. Especially exhausting if those visitors are my parents and we aren’t just counting the hours until they leave! My mom, dad, Adam and I always have the best time exploring. Adam and I aren’t technically on vacation, but we sure ate like we were.

My eyes shut way past 1 am last night and picking my parents up this morning felt like a total feat. Iced coffee (Wegman’s version of Jamaican Me Crazy, with skim milk) was necessary.

I also split a poppy seed bagel with cream cheese with my dad.

Wegman’s bakery never fails to impress; the bagels were the freshest of fresh and this was so chewy and good.

I made dinner at our apartment tonight and I took my parents on the tour de Wegmans while we picked up the necessary provisions. When you live on St. Thomas, stateside grocery stores are seriously exciting.

I ate an apple en route to our main activity for the day,

the outlet mall! Niagara has the best outlet mall ever, with deals from Coach and Juicy Couture to Banana Republic and J. Crew. We stuck more with the 2nd two, since Adam and I were on a mission to get (affordable) professional clothing for this year. We both will be working in the hospitals and we both need to step up our wardrobes from last year. I’ll have to take pictures of my outfits on internship days this semester, apparently I’m making this the year of grey pants!

We stopped by the Lindt outlet and we all picked a piece of candy to try.

I went with this guy, who was stuffed with hazelnut cream and marzipan.

Around lunch-time I took a few bites of my parents’ Teriyaki chicken from the food court.

But I had my eye on another prize.

A Ben and Jerry’s location?! With several “scoop shop only” flavors?! Gah! I got a kid’s cup with Coffee, Coffee, Buzz, Buzz and Coconut 7-Layer Bar.

Ah-mazing. Our freezer makes everything that isn’t single-serve icy and crappy and it was so exciting to get ice-cream that was “fresh.” I gleefully told Adam (several times) that it was like Ben and Jerry’s fresh off the vine! Sidenote – when I say things like that sometimes I can see Adam grimace in physical pain over how fat and dorky I am.

Our next stop was to Hertel Ave to check out the Italian Festival.

So fun. And a lot bigger than I was expecting; it felt like we just kept walking. We saw several fun treats,

but headed home for food since dinner was already in the crock-pot. I made my parents pulled chicken with my 1000 Island BBQ Sauce,

corn on the cob,

and tossed salad with romaine, walnuts, baby carrots, and sun-dried tomatoes.

Such a yummy summer meal.

These pulled chicken sandwiches (with homemade bbq sauce natch!) are my favorite thing we make.

I topped my side salad with Newman’s Own Lite Caesar dressing and wheat germ.

I grew up eating wheat germ on salad and I think I need to get back in the habit, it makes the best topper.

We were all stuffed after dinner so we took a walk before dessert. I drank a Moroccan Mint iced tea from The Spot but I forgot my camera and my glass was sucked dry before we got home. However, if you are at The Spot this summer definitely get the Moroccan Mint, just brewed and served over ice it actually tastes sweet.

Not as sweet as goodies from the Italian Festival though.

I ate the butt end of a delicious eclair.

What a way to end the day!

Adam has school tomorrow so my parents and I might have a more low-key day. We’ll still have fun on our own of course, but maybe I can give my feet a rest.

4Jul2011

Happy 4th of July

by Emily

America the beautiful.

Adam and I had a great July 4th, I hope you guys and your families did as well.

Apparently my husband is a bad influence; I was dressed in running clothes when he pulled me back into bed this morning! It got too hot outside to run so instead we ate leftovers on the couch.

Cheesecake Factory’s spicy cashew chicken might actually be better the 2nd day.

We had to grocery shopping this afternoon and I snacked on an (American as apple pie) apple along the way.

Like my red, white, and blue? Being able to dress in theme colors is my favorite part of any holiday.

We celebrated Adam’s day off for the holiday with our favorite activity – a nice long walk. Midway we split a Sprecher Orange Cream Soda.

Soon enough it was time for red, white, and dinner.

Blue corn tortillas, filled with crumbled tofu cooked in red enchilada sauce, topped with (white) sour cream.

We used this Frontera red chile enchilada sauce and it ended up being pretty flavorless, boo.

Plus some roasted brussels sprouts.

Sadly it was a kind of meh dinner overall.

Normally this wouldn’t have been near enough food for me but thankfully we did a lot of baking today, and I did lots and lots of nibbling!

Kath’s honey crunch peanut butter –

My newest invention that’s bound to be the new big thing (I’ll tell you more tomorrow) –

4th of July cupcakes –

The cupcakes were simple white cupcakes with vanilla frosting, turned festive when dyed red, white, and blue and swirled together.

So fun!

Also fun? We’re watching “Newsies” this evening!

19Jun2011

Tired Travel

by Emily

Hello from Charlottesville! The last 48 hours have been a total whirlwind, but a little sleep deprivation is definitely worth the family time.

Yesterday afternoon we had to finish packing, and Adam had to shave, and we had to drop his car off, and the clock ticked ominously as it got later and later. By the time we actually hit the road it was after 6pm and we knew it was going to be a long night.

We dinnered on sandwiches from home as we drove.

I assembled Nature’s Pride bread, Applegate Farms Organic Roasted Turkey slices, 2% Swiss cheese, and honey mustard; wrapped in tin foil for easy road munching.

Adam and I also split a Starbucks Double Shot drink.

Caffeine was a very good idea (and it continued to be good all today as well) since we pulled into my in-laws’ house at 4:30 in the morning!! I’m not sure how we managed to be so chipper for our 9:30 wake up call, but I think that vacation excitement always overrules lack of sleep. I can’t even tell you how crazy the drive was though, between the thunderstorms and the fog we were pretty sure we were driving through the apocalypse.

Breakfast called for carbs, protein, and bacon. Half a bagel with strawberry cream cheese,

1 scrambled egg,

and 2 slices of turkey bacon.

Moving was not as bad as I was anticipating at all (it probably helped that I was responsible for packing up the pantry and not carrying the couch!), especially since my brother-in-law drove down to help as well. At some point in the afternoon I was sent into town for packing supplies and Starbucks for my mother-in-law; I grabbed a grande iced nonfat latte for myself.

Lunch was one of those random simple meals that ended up being extra delicious.

This veggie pizza was something my MIL found in the freezer section and it was so dang good; she was worried that the crust started to burn but it was crispy and crunchy in the best possible way.

And this was the best (only?) watermelon I’ve tasted all summer.

The melon was supposed to be dessert but my MIL and I found ourselves stuck at Wendy’s while the moving truck was returned and Frostys were calling our names. The new Caramel Apple Parfait looked too good not to try.

Oh my gosh guys, props to Wendy’s because this was delicious! I only ate ~ 1/3 because I didn’t want to overdo it before dinner but I was seriously impressed. The caramel had great mouth feel and the right balance of sweet and salty.

Adam and I stayed in town after the moving was done so we could have Fathers’ Day dinner at my FIL’s favorite restaurant. Clearly it was a day of hot work because I drained my beer before it even occurred to me to snap a picture.

This might be the first time I’ve tried a Shock Top and I was surprised by how much I liked it, light and refreshing.

I also nibbled on a complimentary cheesy biscuit.

Think of the biscuits from Red Lobster, but better.

Sagebrush isn’t the type of restaurant that I typically love but my dinner ended up being amazing.

I ordered a side of the veggie medley (without butter)

and a side of sweet potato casserole

to go with my Mountain Trout.

Trout! This was my first time trying trout and I think it might be my new favorite fish, it was so buttery. The menu said flash grilled but I’m pretty sure this was fried. I scraped off the skin but other than that I cleaned my plate.

After dinner we had another late, rainy drive. I bought this huge (half-sweet) coffee for the road.

I hope the caffeine doesn’t keep me awake but traveling makes my stomach upset and I was hoping coffee would help me feel better.

Tomorrow we’re spending the day exploring Charlottesville and then driving to DC in the evening. My best friend just texted to let me know that her apartment doesn’t have internet so my posting schedule might be a little off.

Can anyone recommend any “must go” spots in Charlottesville or DC? Other than frozen yogurt we don’t have much on the agenda!

9Jun2011

Driving Dilemma

by Emily

We love our neighborhood – a quiet side street off of Elmwood, the “cool” strip in Buffalo – but the parking situation here is a bummer. There’s not a lot of parking space to begin with and then the city further restricts residents by only allowing use of one side of the street from 9-5 on weekdays. In the end it’s really not something I can complain about though because we generally end up parking 2 blocks away from our apartment at most and often snag spots right out front. What I can complain about (and do at length) is the fact that parking switches from left MTW to right RF. Which means that if you wake up at 8:50 thinking that it’s Wednesday when it’s actually Thursday you’re out $30. $60 if you have two cars to worry about.

During the school year – when Adam and I have long-houred internships at different hospitals – having two cars will be a godsend. But in the summer – when we barely drive the one car, let alone two – it’s all we can do to remember to move the cars and they become a big, costly annoyance. I try to put “move the cars!!!” in my day planner but since I often don’t check my planner until after 9am this has proved less than helpful. What has proved effective lately though is coupling the task moving the cars with another activity. If there’s one thing I’ll never forgot to look forward to it’s a date with Adam!

For example, this morning we set our alarms for ~~8:20~~ ~~8:40~~ 8:50 and moved the cars before setting out on a walk to get coffee.

We ended up with no tickets, plus (half sweet) coffee as a bonus!

I waited to enjoy my hot coffee until I got home to the ac, and paired it with the rest of my breakfast spread.

A crisp, local apple,

and Greek Gods Fig yogurt.

Yum x 100! If you still haven’t tried Greek Gods then you totally need to get on that.

Coffee always makes me super full, which helped lunch to get pushed back later and later into the afternoon. When a coworker called at noon I ended up picking up an extra daytime shift at work tomorrow which meant we needed to switch around some of our lunch and dinner meal plans. The end result of all this is that it was 2:30, I hadn’t eaten lunch, and I needed to go to the store before I could make dinner.

I’d been craving garlic eggplant all morning – actually I’ve been craving that dish ever since I saw it on the table across from ours at Tokyo Shanghai – so I told myself that if Wegman’s had it on their hot bar then I’d buy lunch there. I haven’t seen garlic eggplant at Wegman’s in months, but apparently crossing your fingers works!

I got a big scoop of garlic eggplant alongside veggies picked out from various containers,

and a few big pieces of sweet and sour chicken.

So fun to find exactly what I was craving right on that day; usually I whine to the husband about tastes I’m looking forward to for days!

No matter how satisfying and tasty though, waiting too long for lunch always means I’m hungrier all afternoon. We had a good array of snacks to pick from; baby carrots with blue cheese,