This Is A Morning

I said I’d blog in the morning, I just didn’t say which morning.

As promised, Adam came home Saturday night with a feast.

We split some waffle fries,

and I ate half of this spicy bean enchillada.

In the morning we took a long walk (he pooped!),

and picked up an iced tea from Starbucks.

Then came home and made breakfast.

I had turkey bacon,

two eggs with spicy corn relish scrambled in,

and a Bagel Thin with Smart Balance Lite and Crofters Organic Grape Spread.

My plan for the afternoon was supposed to be a 3 mile run.  But then this happened –

So then this happened –

Webster makes spending the afternoon at home so much more exciting.  As do brownies.

These S’mores Brownies are definitely in the top ten list of things I’ve baked!

I think I actually like them better than traditional s’mores!

We did take a few walks, which turned into mud baths, which turned into Webster’s first real bath.  Eeee, wet dachshunds are so cute; I will have to remember to take a picture next time.

I had dinner/drinks plans at 8:00 which felt late so I did some afternoon snacking.  Baby carrots dipped in blue cheese dressing.

Half a matzoh sheet with extra sharp cheddar melted on top.

A mug of Candy Cane Lane with skim milk.

And 1 serving of Trolli Soda Poppers.

The snacking did the trick and before I knew it I was at Bar Louie with my friends.  I know it’s sort of a breakfast drink, but the extra spicy bloody mary was calling my name.

It was spicy and delicious, but I was a little put off by the freaking sandwich Bar Louie stuck in the top of it –

I don’t eat meat!  I did eat a small plate of the appetizers we shared.

I’m so happy that I ended up with such a great group in my year for Dietetics.  I didn’t get home until after 12 and I will admit to feeling a bit cranky this morning.

I’m starving and I assume Webster’s chewing on my bookshelves to tell me that he’s bored, so we’re off to take a long walk.  This will be my first day home alone with the puppy, wish me luck!

Pizza Powered

As planned, we ordered a pie from Just Pizza last night and it was fabulous.

We got a Laura’s Old Fashioned – “The way our Mother used to make it. Made with Extra Thick Dough, a special Sweet Pizza Sauce (fresh sliced Onions in the sauce), Mozzarella & Romano Cheese, topped with Mushrooms.”

Not so fabulous was the way I felt after eating 5 slices this size.

Fat, ill, and irritated with myself for noting getting up an eating a salad.  On the plus side though, it’s sort of like Adam and I were carbo-loading for our run this morning!  If nothing else, our glycogen stores were nice and prepared.

Actually we were prepped all around, this is the run I got to test out my new shoes on.

I’m 90% sure I like them, but I’m going to run in them once more to be sure since my most recent pair sucked so badly.

I also tested out my new favorite shirt;

handmade by ME at last week’s tie dye party.

I think it’s pretty darn cute.

It was a good run to feel cute on, because I was mostly feeling like a jackass that I haven’t worked out all summer.  My planned 3.5 miles were tough.  We had two 1.75 mile loops around Delaware Park and I’m just glad I finished.  I had to take a few walking breaks, but I made sure to run for a least five minutes each time and walk for no more than 2 minutes at a time.  3.5 miles in 40 minutes and 20 seconds.  Followed by a 10 minute walk.

The rest of the agenda was shower ~ ice ~ grocery ~ clean the dirty apartment ~ dinner.  Thankfully our grocery trip was made much more exciting by our plan to sit in the cafe for a few hours so Adam could study.  I got cozy reading Nancy.

Sidenote – I am completely and utterly obsessed with the Nancy Drew books.

And got exciting lunch from the hot bar.

In an effort to save a bit of money, we also supplemented with salads from home.

In the end my meal ended up being arugula topped with carrots, 2 Tbsp of wheat germ, 1/4 cup of roasted chick peas, and 2 Tbsp of tarragon vinaigrette.

Plus roasted veggies, chili garlic eggplant, and veggies picked out of the cashew chicken,

and a few pieces of pineapple and berries.

Delish.  I read my first Nancy and munched and was in absolute bliss.

Unfortunately, the grocery took longer than anticipated and once I added in a last-minute walk to the co-op and the task of packing Adam’s lunches, I plain ran out of time to clean the house.  Tomorrow.  And at least I’m a good wife.

Adam has one rice bowl for each day of the work week.  And I took a good many nibbles that escaped the camera while I cooked.

I also made dinner.

Polenta that turned into a fairly intimidating, but tasty solid,

and huevos rancheros inspired tacos.

I scrambled 5 eggs (with skim milk, salt, and pepper) into sautéed chopped onions and green pepper, and then stuffed them into blue corn taco shells with a bit of sharp cheddar.  I served Adam and myself 3/5 and 2/5 accordingly.

Dessert was 2/3 to 1/3 in my favor though.

A gigantic cowboy cookie I picked up at the co-op.

My entire right side of my body has ached ever since yesterday’s tennis game, so I’m going to go curl up with a book.

What You Should Be Watching This Summer

Good morning!  Did anyone else have pizza for breakfast this morning too?

Well, I had a version of my pizza eggs.  I sautéed a few tablespoons of black olives in a bit of butter, then scrambled in 2 eggs, 1 oz of Cabot 50% reduced fat white cheddar, and 1/4 cup of marinara sauce.

These were ridiculous good.  The olives made the eggs almost meaty and the dish as a whole really does taste like pizza.  Actually, it tastes even better than pizza!

I had a mug of Candy Cane Lane as well.  I added a splash of skim milk after I snapped this shot.

Not quite the iced tea I’ve been pining after, but still good.  Using two tea bags in 1.5 cups of water seemed to give me the perfect flavor, though my tea bags are pretty old.

It was a lovely meal, enjoyed while catching up on tv.

I don’t have cable (we watch online, most everything is available on Hulu) so when the internet gave me problems earlier this week I was cut off from my entertainment.

What You Should Be Watching This Summer

Even without cable, I think my summer spent unemployed and on the couch makes me uniquely qualified to recommend some summer programming to you guys.  Here are the summer shows I can’t get enough of:

Rizzoli and Isles

Starring Angie Harmon as a police detective and Sasha Alexander as her medical examiner.  Think Dr. Sayron from “Bones” with Catherine Willows from “CSI.”  This show, while a bit cheesy at times, is totally addictive.  It probably helps that both police detective and medical examiner have both been on my “maybe jobs” list for years.

Covert Affairs

Piper Perabo (of “Coyote Wild” fame) stars as a new CIA agent.  Think Booth from “Bones” but in the competing agency and with a vagina.  Plus Christopher Gorham plays a very (very, very) cute agent who happens to be blind.

Rookie Blue

Another cop show, but this time the focus is on the rookies.  I know it sounds like it’s been done before, but this version is pretty darn funny.  I originally started watching because one of the main characters was the star of “Stick It” (what?), but the plot line is funny and sweet enough that I’ve kept with it.

Yes I have a thing for cop dramas, why do you ask?

What shows can’t you get enough of this summer?

Vacation At Home

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!

Foster Finder

Dear Crazy Drunk Dude Who Rang Our Buzzer Repeatedly at 5am –

I hate you.  I know we haven’t been officially introduced, but seriously, I hate you.  You scared me and ruined my awesome night of sleep.  I hope your girlfriend dumped you, because you seem like a douche.

xoxo,

Emily

The plan was to get up and run this morning – I even got myself int0 bed at 10:30 last night like a grown up – but somehow 7am felt really early.  So did 8, and 9, and 10; although by 10 I decided it was high time to get up regardless.

The heat made us push back our workout to this afternoon, but we did go on a nice 1+ mile walk around our neighborhood.  Including a stop at the Spot for a large iced coffee with skim milk.

The Spot uses a cold brew method for their iced coffee (sort of like French pressed if I understand correctly) and it give it a totally unique flavor.

I had gone to bed pretty hungry last night and I was just starting to get cranky on our walk when the clouds parted and we spotted this –

Banana Foster French Toast?!  Don’t mind if I do, JP Bullfeathers.

Thick slices of cinnamon bread topped with pillowy bananas and a rum caramel sauce,

plus a side of fruit.

My mind was pretty much blown.  Fact – Adam had to tell me to calm down because I was mmmning too enthusiastically.

I could only manage half of the plate because it was so rich but I left very satisfied.  I haven’t had the actual dish in at least a decade but bananas foster is my very favorite dessert!

Brunch felt extra festive because Adam and I both got $1 mimosas.

Way to go JP Bullfeathers.

Buffalo readers – I’m having a meet-up tomorrow at Saigon Cafe at 7:30!  Send me an e-mail if you’d like to come.  I’d love to see you there!

Psych!

I know I said I was going home.  As I got into my car this morning I thought “I could be fun to stay longer…,” so I did!  I’ll go home tomorrow.

I think my delicious breakfast helped to put me in the vacation mood.

0% Plain Greek Gods Yogurt with berries, plucot, and the last of the Great Harvest Granola.

So sad!

My last bowl with it was fantastic though.

I was super glad I stayed when we ventured to a great outdoor mall (I snagged the perfect shoes for my hospital rotation) and spotted this –

First we had lunch.  This is a half portion (I split with my mom) of poached eggs with hollandaise, potato, spinach, asparagus, and artichoke.

Pretty good, but dessert was better.

I seriously don’t know what I’m going to do in Buffalo for the next year without froyo?!

After some more family time, we headed to dinner at Ruby Tuesdays.  I snagged one of these cheddar biscuits.

And went seafood delight for dinner.

I was seriously shocked by how good this food was; I must have exclaimed how much I enjoyed my meal at least five times during dinner!

Grilled green beans,

grilled zucchini,

and grilled bbq salmon with shrimp.

Yum, yum, yum; the zucchini was my favorite.

Ok, now I promise to go home tomorrow!

Tired Travel

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!

What A Nightmare

Late breakfast post to the contrary, we actually woke up nice and early today.  I was having a nightmare and I yowled so loudly that it woke us both up!  That alone is weird, but the “big bad” of the nightmare is even stranger. 

In my dream I was going somewhere and as I was getting ready to leave in the morning I didn’t have time to pack lunch.  Adam and I were running behind and I was going to buy lunch on our way but then we left too late and it wasn’t going to fit the schedule.  Then dream Adam and I got in a huge fight because he didn’t understand how we had time at first but then ten minutes later it was too late.  The yowl that woke us up was actually me yelling at him in my dream!  Strangest yet most realistic nightmare ever.

Once I was out of bed I headed to the gym for a quickie workout.  30 minutes on the elliptical; random level 6.  Followed by a fast strength/stretch session.  It felt good to get sweaty again!  I had to keep it quick because on campus I also had a meeting to procure health insurance for next year and a date with the library to check out some books for our upcoming road trip.  Done and done.

Breakfast had its highs and its lows.  Beverages were the high point.

Homemade frozen coffee is so much better than anything you can buy at a coffee shop!  For 2 I blended 2 cups of coffee, 1/2 cup Silk Light Vanilla Soy Milk, 7 ice cubes, and 3 Tbsp of sugar.

Sadly food was a low point.  We had an onion, some garlic, and a green bell pepper to use up so I decided to make eggs.

Getting everything prepped was glorious; now that I know to use a big knife, chopping veggies is my favorite cathartic activity.

But even though the veggies were lovingly sautéed (and perfectly chopped!) they just didn’t come together with the eggs to make something that tasted good.

I finished my two eggs worth, but it was more about eating the protein and veggies than enjoying the taste.

Do you remember your dreams?  Are they usually realistic or fantastical?