Long Island City Love

I am not going to lie, I fall easily, for places that is.  While I haven’t yet fallen in love with a person, I find I am a softy for countries, cities, islands, parks, mountains, bodies of water, etc.  I could probably find myself pretty happy just about anywhere.  Invite me to your town, and my romance will quickly blossom.

While clearly, I declare my love for all things NYC quite regularly on this blog, today I thought I would refine my make out session to my actual neighborhood: long island city. 

I moved from Manhattan to Astoria in May 2005 and moved to Long Island City in May 2008.  While there are many things I miss about living in Manhattan and Astoria, I  have embraced Long Island City with my whole heart and am happier here than I ever expected.  Initially, I had some reservations…I mean, I was pretty sold on our building, the roof deck and the gym were the most amazing  that I had ever seen in an apartment.  And the view from my bedroom ain’t bad either.

But the neighborhood was/is pretty industrial; I didn’t know anyone except my roommates, and there wasn’t even a proper grocery store or drugstore.  Luckily less than a year later, that changed and now we have a great whole foods-esque store and a duane reade right in our building, and a gorgeous park opened that runs all along the water.  I find Long Island City young and fun, but also a very meditative place to live. I can relax and have relative quiet and have sky and water.  The 7 is great when it’s great, but of course, every few months it can be a nightmare when it decides to misbehave, but you have to take that in stride. 

For as much as I love LIC, I have to say, I don’t hang out in my hood nearly as much as I should.  Or many I am just in a rut, I am certainly a repeat sushi offender at Shi and doggedly loyal to my local to my wine shop Blue  Streak, and I have had many a brunch at Cafe Henri.  At this point, I am on a first name basis with the duane reade manager and the clerks at many of the delis, but there are so many places I am dying to explore!  Over the last month or so, many new places opened or merely came to my attention for the first time.

Let’s have a look.

FOOD:

Testaccio.  I walked by this sexy looking trattoria many times before I found out it was a roman-style Italian restuarant that opened in late October.  I have yet to go, but the reviews from Foodista and Joey in Astoria look very promising.

El Ay Si.  A comfort food place that just opened.  While I am not into rich cuisine, the chefs have several notable places, so I at least owe it a visit.  Again reviews are decent. I walk by it everyday and it looks like a great place for a glass of wine with a cute date.

Manducatis Rustica-the sister of the famous Manducatis a bit further into LIC, the outpost is just a few blocks from me and I am embarrassed that I have yet to go.  It’s supposed to be a hidden gem serving Italian food from my beloved Napoli.  Plus, they just starting serving brunch again, swoon. Check out the raves on Foodista and LIQ City and Serious Eats

SAGE GENERAL STORE

A casual country store serving breakfast, lunch and brunch.  All the food is local, naturally grown and many dishes are organic.  It looks cute, casual and cozy—like a healthy cracker barrel, lol.  Full scoop at grub street and foodista.

DRINK

Penthouse 808 at RAVEL A roof top bar at a Boutique Hotel.  I meant to check it out during the summer, but apparently I am not too late.  Time Out featured Ravel in this week’s issue and apparently the roof deck is enclosed and open for the winter, replete with fireplaces. Good thing because my roof deck is closed

Dutch Kills  Another place I can’t believe I haven’t tried.  Owned by the mixologist masters behind Milk and Honey and Little Branch, the drinks are sure to be amazing.  I wonder what kind of scene it will be since, Milk and Honey is by referral only and Little Branch has an unmarked door, I don’t think Long Island City is cool enough to be that pretentious, but I plan to find out. NY Mag and Eater seems to think it is.

See

The Secret Theater  A secret to me until today.  Cyrano De Bergerac is playing now.

Queens Film Festival-this weekend!  Thanks to Joey in Astoria for calling this to my attention. 

The Chocolate Factory.  While the name indicates otherwise, this is home to dance, music, art  and theatre.

Socrates Sculpture Park.  You know it’s my fav.  Free art, yoga, pilates and film!

PS 1 MoMa Known for the summer warm up series.

Noguchi Museum I haven’t been but it is well respected for its sculpture collections.

Silver Cup Studios.  Unfortunately, the home of 30 Rock and Gossip Girl does not do tours, but the website says nothing about stalking…jk  In any event, during filming seasons, you are bound to spot some shooting around town.

DO

Yoga Room-Yoga, Pilates and Bikram Classes in a serene studio space.

City View Raquet-Remember the infamous Ramona/Jill tennis match? This is where it when down.  If you can afford it, it looks like quite the place.

Crossfit LIC.  I have reviewed this. It hurts.  In a good way. I love it.

Kayak.  Free kayak through the LIC Boathouse. weather dependent.

A big thanks to all the blogs that helped provide the information for this post–great resources for anyone living in LIC or astoria:

foodista

joey in astoria

LiqCity

A lotta random

I have to say, last week flew by! I can’t believe it’s the weekend.  I am working tomorrow, so I have a lot I would like to knock off the to-do list tomorrow.  Blogging was one of the more fun things, so that was moved to the top section of the list

This post is kind of mishmash of different things that didn’t really fit into one theme.

Let’s start with something fun, Skinny Girl Margaritas. A few weeks ago, I received an email about Bethenny Frankel doing a signing of her new Skinny Girl Margarita at Astor Wines.  I happen to work a few blocks from there and it came with a free t-shirt, so I was sold.  Unfortunately, I had a few meetings I couldn’t miss at the 4PM start time.  So I enlisted Margarita Liz to help me out.  Actually she volunteered, even though she doesn’t give a hoot about Bethenny, she is just that awesome.  It ended up that my meeting ended a little early, and I rushed over just a little after 4.  There was Liz, 5th in line, with Skinny Girl Margarita in hand.  I love her.  I traded places, so she could get back to work and continued to wait wondering why we weren’t being let inside.  It was cold out!      

Apparently, Bethenny was running late, but they finally let us inside to wait.  We had to chat it up with the liquor guy. I was probably the only NYC person in the room, everyone else was from Alabama or somewhere and couldn’t stop talking about their hotels in Times Square and how much walking they had done that day.  God bless, that was me not too long ago.  Anyways, while I have not drank tequila in years, I am not sure I intend to ever again, the ingredients in the Skinnygirl Margarita could not be more natural: blue agave clear tequila and agave nectar. Oh, and it only cost like $13.

Anyways, Bethenny rushed in and Alex McCord stopped by to offer some support.  Let me just say, my mouth dropped to the floor when I say these women in person.  Skinny doesn’t begin to describe them.  They are SO RIDICULOUSLY THIN. I mean model thin and then some.  Bethenny’s waist is maybe 20 inches.  Just an observation, and no judgment, power to them.  But man, TV does add pounds.

Bethenny was exactly the same as she is on the show. Funny, sarcastic, perfectionist.  Not only that she was extremely personable and intelligent.  In just the few minutes she interacted with each person, she took the time to grab a common thread and make you feel like she was happy to meet you and appreciated your support.  I happened to mention that I grew in Saratoga, where she also spent a lot of time, and she asked me about 3 or 4 restaurants and how I ended up in the city.  The t-shirt is really cute and super soft, but I can’t imagine wearing a shirt that says skinny girl, maybe to bed.

I actually didn’t look at my bottle until days later, but somehow she even caught my name, which I thought was pretty incredible. In any case, it was an eventful way to spend my lunch hour.

New Scenes

So I tend to go to my favorite places over and over.  But this week, I actually tried some good new city bars and restaurants.  8th Street Wine Cellar. Cute, affordable, not too loud or crowded.  It would actually be great for a first date because it is on the romantic, intimate side, but not too sexy, there is a hint of masculinity.  The menu has a lot of good options, and the food was good, but not great. I had the butternut squash and goat cheese brushetta and the beet and goat cheese salad.  While Bar Jamon, which has the best beet salad in existence, is still my fav wine bar, 8th Street is a good alternative, if your not ready for super intimate.

Next up, Paladar.  A cuban place in the lower east side.  It was more spacious, than my typically cuban go-to Cafe Habana. The menu was very good and the food clean, light, spicy and delicious—I had a butternut squash and walnut salad and two tiny swordfish tacos with avocado and mango salad.  The portions were modest, which was actually nice, so you could try a few things without feeling stuffed. I am not a huge cuban fan, but definitely fun once in a while.

Finally, I ended the night at Sunita. It was shockingly empty for such a sexy little space.  I typically don’t drink martinis, but I was convinced that I had to try one. So I debated between a ginger, lime, lychee and vodka martini and a passionfruit martini and went with the passionfruit.  I also had a sip of the signature passion fruit jalapeño vodka martini. It was good, but I am not sure I would want a full glass of it! 

While we are talking city, I am kind of in love with these MUJI city in a bag kits!  So cute!

Injury update:

I had my final appointment with Dr. MetzDreamy yesterday—high fives and all.  He cleared my to run the marthon and told me it would rock my world and I would love every second.  In fact, his only concern was my lack of enthusiasm.  I am pretty sure he would run the NYC marathon every day if he could.  I guess, I need to accept that a lot of runners deal with pain and discomfort, and it is not going to kill me.  His confidence and enthusiasm was definitely beneficial.  He also suggested I get not only a pedicure (lol) , but also a MELT treatment next door to help ease the plantar’s fascilitas, but I just didn’t have the money to drop.  The appointments, bandages, insoles, etc. have been expensive, so I am going to see if I can get a golf and tennis ball to help roll the tissue out a bit.  I am nervous and sad that all the weird pain I have been feeling might take away from the experience.  But I am not looking back now, I have the option of deferring until 10/28, but I am going to hope “the course is with me.”

Tapering Update:

So my actually running schedule called for a 10-K today or 6.2 miles, which is weird since almost everyone else does 13 miles two weeks out.  I did an easy 4.3 miles over the 59th Street Bridge and down to Grand Central this morning.  I saw at least 100 Nike Town runners on the bridge, preparing for race day.  I plan to do the 10K tonight on the treadmill and push myself a bit more toward faster pacing.  I was hoping to get to a hot vinyasa class at the Yoga Room today, but I am probably going to just do a little online class to loosen up a bit.  Just couldn’t get it together for the 130 class, on the bright side, I have done laundry, sheets and pulled all my sundresses out of the closet to make room for sweaters, so I haven’t been completely unproductive, especially considering I had a glass of wine and a martini last night . 

CONGRATULATIONS AND GOOD LUCK!

Have the best marathon ever CHANDRA!  We love you! And don’t forget to partake in some shenanigans along the way!

Great tips, great day, lots of recaps

First off thanks so much to all those who gave me great tips for staying healthy during times of crazy busyness. I will speak to how I am planning on incorporating your tips in my life over the next weeks at the end of the post.

Oh, I have gotten some amazing emails and questions this week, and I will definitely respond with thoughtful, researched emails soon.  Thanks so much, they make my day.

Okay lots of recaps to do!

First, CROSSFIT LIC!

Compared to my first experience, this was at least three times as hard.  I mean, I made it and I could actually walk and use my arms today, but WOW like night and day.  Is it addicting in the same way Physique 57 was? Not in the same instantaneous, obsession type of way, but definitely in the is fun, challenging, yet enjoyable kind of way.  Crossfit definitely pushes me harder than I could push myself.

So here was the workout.

Warm Up:

a few minutes of jumping rope

3 sets of 10-15 reps

• squats holding pbc bar overhead—way harder than normal squats because of the intense arm work
• samuri lunges
• sit ups on this crazy machine in the arm
• back extensions on the crazy machine in the air
• pull ups—I use this cool green band to help me—5 was plenty
• dips on rings or push ups

I only made it through two sets before it was time to move on.  It took a while to learn how to use the equipment. I think I am forgetting one exercise also.

Skill

Handstands.  We did a bunch of handstand drills.  Starting with a crazy boat sit up and moving on to forward rolls than body rolls with arms and legs off the ground.  I was actually totally cool with this part of the class, reminded me of my long gone gymnastic days.  But rolling down the mat after sweat drenched people took a little bit of inner strength to muster the courage. I definitely rolled through the sweat of strangers.

The we moved on to hand stands and hand stand roll outs, easy peasy.

Workout

5 sets of

1. walking lunges holding a weight over head.  (weights ranged from 10-45 lbs.  I used 10)
2. 12-21 burpees.  squat, jump feet out, do one full push up, jump feet in, jump into the air and clap overhead.  ( i did 12)
3. A picture of our class below

It was pretty crazy, everytime I got halfway across the room, my legs want to scream at me.  And let’s not even talk about the burpees, although they actually got easier by the later sets…no idea why.

Cool down stretches.

I definitely want to go again while i still have my comp week!

Beam Green

Basically all I want to say about Beam Green is that I got to chat with a bunch of fab bloggers! Gena, Dori, Diana, Missy, Leslie, Sarah, Vani, Danielle and Olga

As always, I got some great swag.

While I am not much into diet books, Naturally Thin being a curiosity exception, I am looking forward to settling down with the China Study, since it is pretty classic.  I also received a copy of Thrive in the mail on Wednesday, which I am excited to read because Brendan Brazier is really fing cool. We also got copies of the Kabbalah on Green-I can not believe I own this book–lol. Plus the typical awesome info packed newsletter.  While I am sad that it is the last Beam Green, I am glad Mary inspired us to create our own monthly social.  I love the prospect of fun city events and trying great new health restaurants or having our own potlucks—there are endless possibilities.

I also treated myself to a cute new dress on a total whim. I passed Variazioni on the last 8 minutes of my lunch hour, stopped in, saw this dress, tried it on, bought it and was out the door. I am excited that it will work from summer to fall.

First day on the new job!  While I try not to talk to much about work for many reasons, seeing as it is a very exciting part of my life right now and 90% of my waking hours. I will just share a bit of my new gig and then do my best to keep my professional life off the WWW lol.

So I am not working in Student Affairs, and it is so my style.  I love it already.  My job is basically team building, community development and student support.  I love interacting with enthusiastic, energetic people and having so much room for creativity, and the ability to lead fun programs and trainings. Plus, my office has craft supplies, every office should have craft supplies.  Today was my first of 14 or so 13+ hour days, and I have to say it wasn’t as tiring as I expected.  Although I can not consume as much caffeine as I did today going forward!

While the next few weeks will be long, I can hardly wait for some of the excited activities we have planned.  I thought I would share since they would be fun for any New Yorker, visitor and NYC curious.  On the schedule: film at the classic Angelica Theater, trip to the US OPEN, visit to the HIGHLINE, dumpling making class, walk over the Brooklyn Bridge and Grimaldis Pizza, ice cream social at Yogurtland, chinatown dim sum brunch! There are actually quite a few more, and I obviously have work that it is a bit more substantive as well!

Thanks again for all the great tips—if you haven’t let one yet, please do!  I definitely need to drink way more water , which is actually more energizing than all my caffeine crack.  Many of you mentioned just taking 10-15 minutes to decompress and relax, I think I will do that on the subway.  I don’t really have free time for meals, since we always eat together, but I will sneak those moments of zen in where I can.  Also thanks for all the great healthy snack suggestions! I am going to try to always have some cut up veggies, fresh fruit and healthy snack bars in my bag, so I have a back up plan/supplemental eats when there are no healthy options or no veggies available at meals.  Like ya’’ll said, be prepared.

Since every lunch, dinner and most breakfasts will be provided over the next few weeks, I won’t be doing much cooking.  I must admit, I do find making the best choice when there are lots of tempting options to be a  bit of a challenge!  But typically I find that there is at least one healthy choice available that looks yummy! Although, I actually laughed when I put my green juice in the fridge this morning, and the only other items were cake and girl scout cookies.  Oh, and a counter full on candy, rice krispie treats, twizzlers, chips and freeze pops lol! But hey, to each his own, I don’t want to be judged for my carrot sticks and I am not ashamed to admit I love me a rice krispie treat!

Overall I am not worried, as you all said, and I agree, I just have to keep in mind that making healthy choices is the best way to keep my energy levels up and feel my best.  Of course, occasional treats are fine too, as long as the bulk is pretty healthy.

In hindsight, tonight balanced a healthy main course with indulgent dessert!

I order the papaya salad and summer rolls from Baoguette.  Really really good. And then we ended tonight with some staff bonding at Momofuku Milk Bar.  Milk Bar is one of those places NYMAG will not stop talking about!  So I was very curious.  We ordered four desserts to split, the cornflake softserve (which tastes EXACTLY like cornflakes and milk, seriously, it’s uncanny), the crack pie, compost cookies, and dulce de leche cake.  I have to say, from the line out the door, I was expecting to be blown away.  Milk bar gets ridiculous points for creativity, everything on the menu sounded completely unique, yet delicious. IMO when it came to taste,  the desserts weren’t over the top amazing.  I had a few bites of each, and that was more than enough. The crack pie was quite delish, but everything was a bit too sweet…and I LOVE sweet!  It was a fun place to try, and clearly very popular, but it’s not my first choice for a sweet treat.

And the final tip, echoed by many, get enough SLEEP! And with that, I am off to bed, tomorrow is a workday after all.

I am going to try to do a short run tomorrow am, and a long run on Sunday, since we don’t have to be in until 11am.

Oh, and just as a reminder, on Monday I will be announcing an awesome giveaway, if I can wait that long!

Raw du Jour

This week happened to be a week full of yummy raw dinner dates!  It was fairly coincidental that I had 3 night of back to back raw meals, but it was certainly delicious.  Besides when the weather is gloriously hot and fruit and veggies are fresh and fabulous, why bother cooking?   I have eaten plenty of non-raw food this week too, but I figured I’d pick a theme.  And I must thank all my friends for being patient with me while I photographed my food and yours, rockstars!

This post has a double theme: raw food and flowers. I was pretty much beside myself in this amazing week of sunny summer weather, and  I snapped some shots of random flora and fauna around the city, so I thought I would stick them in the post too.

Just since being back I have had the pleasure of seeing several of my favorite bloggers, Katherine, Liz (VeggieGirl) and Dori.

Tuesday night Gena came over for dinner on the roof deck.  I have to say, I get ridiculously nervous about cooking/uncooking for people, even though I love it to death.  I scour recipes, plan plan plan, and give myself hours before the dinner bell to prepare it. Last time I made dinner for Gena I was panicked for days, fortunately it turned out pretty well.   This is the first time I have made dinner for Gena since Choosing Raw went live, so I had a better idea of her tastes and fortunately, Gena loves the simple things foods in life.  So it was much less nerve racking.  In fact, Monday night something came up and I didn’t have time to prep anything, so everything you see below took 45 minutes from absolute start to finish.  I was super nervous as I raced home from work, but I was reassured by the fact that Rachael Ray could turn out 1.5 complete and cooked meals in that time.

So on to the food.  Sorry for the messy bowls, things shifted a lot on the way from my apt. to the roof.

DIY Romaine lettuce wraps with snow pea shoots, bell pepper, cuc, carrot and cabbage

Served with salsa and Gena’s Favorite Guac, she was kind enough to give me a guac demo—best guac ever!

And a yummy beet, avocado, snow pea shoot, arugula salad based closely on this recipe.   I highly recommend this combo and the dressing was light simple and delicious—I only used 1/3 the EVOO and added a splash of BV.   This delicious looking compressed summer berry salad was my second choice, and I plan to try it soon.

Raw corn and celery soup—sans onion and garlic for gena, but I did throw some onion on top of my own bowl.

My plate

And the view

Just some shots of my lunch hour stroll down 5th to let you digest before my next meal

Meal #3—lunch at desk

I actually ate my lunch at my desk, beet, snow pea shoot, fig and cucumber over argula with a bit of goat cheese.  yum

Meal #3  Dinner at Pure Food and Wine

My college roommate and dear friend Laura and I decided to catch up and we happened to both be thinking: PURE!

You guys are probably bored of Pure, but here we go…

Sadly, the garden was full, this is the fourth time in a row I haven’t been able to sit in the garden.    wah wah wah, i guess I will try try again!

Despite sitting inside, which gave us tons of privacy, since inside was empty, the meal was super yum

My very favorite pure food, the spicy Thai lettuce wraps with tamarind dipping sauce—split with Laura.

For my entree, I ordered the Zucchini Fettuccine with Basil Crema and Red Pepper Bruschetta with spicy pumpkin seeds, basil sprouts, Styrian pumpkin seed oil.  This was actually an appetizer, but rich and big enough for a meal on its own.

Laura got her fav the Zucchini and Local Hothouse Tomato Lasagna

We also split the Trio of Dark Chocolate Coated Indian Spiced Ice Cream Treats, which I had been dying to try.  It was delicious, but of course, I left so full!

Interlude of Madison Square Park before meal #4

On Thursday, my friend Derek and I decided to catch up while chilling in one of my favorite places, Madison Square Park!  I hadn’t been there all summer, so I was dying to give it a big hug and kiss hello.  For a park dead center in the middle of Flatiron, I always find it to be a nice tranquil respite between Union Square and Herald Square.

Meal #4  Bonobos

After a nice chat and some bench sitting, we decided to get dinner.  I have been hearing so many raves about Bonobos that I had to check it out, and I figured the esteemed and venerable Shake Shack would please Derek.  However, he wanted to try Bonobos.  I was only there once about three years ago and wasn’t blown out of the water, so I was a little worried that Bonobos was not a jaw-dropping, life changing   raw food experience every novice diner should be fortunate enough to have; however, Derek would not be dissuaded.  Fortunately, the B-staff was extremely helpful and attentive, so I knew we were in good hands.

He got nori rolls with sesame pate and a soup, which is clearly carrot or pumpkin.  He said they were very good, but the soup would have been better hot…lol

I got the nori rolls also with the walnut veggie nutmeat, cabbage, cucumber, carrot, beet and sprouts.   YUM!  VERY Filling, i wasn’t hungry for hours. And I love the nice salad that comes with the meal.

And after hearing Diana’s enthusiastic endorsement of the now famous Coconut Chai, I could not help but get us a bottle to split.

We both thought it was very good.  I am actually not a coconut lover, so it was a bit too much for me, but it did have a great comfort food feel and I liked the mild sweet and spiciness.

After dinner, I said good bye to Derek and went to meet a friend for drinks.  We decided to go to a place I have been very curious about since it opened four years ago.  Japonais.

To be fair, I am curious about anything that opens in the Irving Place vicinity, but Japonais in particular, since the ambience and decor is so chic, sleek and expansive for the area.  The vibe is super sexy, which I must admit, I love.  I don’t know how I have never been there, but the menu never particularly appealed to me, so I have walked passed it noting I should check it about at least fifty times.

Getting drinks there was the perfect way to experience the restaurant.  It is nice to sit at the bar and check out the scene and vibe.  The drink menu was actually three menus, one happy hour tasting which is from 5-11PM Mon-Fri! A summer cocktail menu.  And there regular wine and cocktail menu, which like Pure, includes plenty of lighter, sake-based cocktails.  Overall Japonais was cool to check out and I would definitely go back for drinks, and probably even dinner.  It’s kind of pricey—drinks are around $13-15, but sadly, I am pretty used to that at this point.

TTYL Bloggies.  Have a great weekend.

Saying Goodbye!

I have had a fabulous bon voyage weekend–running, friends and great food!

It started out with an amazing dinner with Gena at Quintessence.  This is a great raw restaurant; the food was uber-yum last night!  I started with an a la carte taco and had the new sprout, goji berries, cherry tomatoes, candied walnuts and the most amazing fig balsamic dressing.

The best part of the night (not counting the lovely company and conversation)was definitely getting TWO cds hand mixed by Gena.  One is a travel mix and the other is a NYC mix, I can’t wait to listen to them on the plane!

After saying good-bye, I headed to 71 to say hi to a friend in town just for the weekend.  I thought I was full after dinner, but when I passed One Lucky duck, I couldn’t help from getting a pint of the Almond Butter Cup—recently featured on Veggie Girl’s blog.

I hit the subway perfectly and made it home in two stops with minimal meltage.  A couple of bites before bed was the a very sweet ending to the night.  At $18 a pint, it is a good thing a little goes a long way.

This glorious and sunny NYC morning I got up early to do some final loads of laundry and then head of to help the organization I used to intern for with a quick program.  After I walked from Port Authority to my friend Derek’s apartment.  We debated a run in the park versus working out at the Reebok Sports Club, but it was way too nice a day (the nicest we have had since last summer) to spend inside—even though I really want to check out his gym .  So we did the same 4 mile loop I did with Katherine yesterday.  It definitely felt significantly harder than yesterday, I think I was going faster since I didn’t want to bore Derek out of his mind.  In any case, I remembered over the last two days,  just how much more awesome running with company is!  I plan to email everyone I know that is even remotely interested in running as soon as I come back and set up plenty of running dates.

I was pretty famished during and after our run, so after a quick shower, we had a nice brunch at Arte Cafe.  A glorious day full of sunshine and my favorite nyc ritual (brunch), what a great way to spend my last full day.  Although this suddenly amazing weather is making it so hard to leave! Not to mention that the new park that I have been looking at from my window for ages finally opened this weekend!  It looks amazing. 

I have always loved the look out piers at The Gantry

but now there is a big park with hammocks!

and many more lookouts and benches

and you can get up close and personal with the pepsi cola sign

All right, I must be off to finish last minute packing, cleaning and organizing and to say goodbye to a few more people, and if I am ambitious head to a friends roof to watch the fireworks.

Happy Independence Day Folks!

PS Just as a reminder, I have posts scheduled throughout the next three weeks!

Best Week Ever Recap

Wow, I am getting very use to this no school thing.  I took a full long week to enjoy my freedom before starting to prepare for my summer courses. While I relished the simple abundance of every moment, I thought I would share some of the notable highlights.

 

The week started out full of NYC pride, as I had my first visit to the new Yankee Stadium…magnificent!  My friend looked like she had found the promised land, she was so excited.

TUESDAY:

Wow, those mowers deserve some props!

And then we watched our Yanks kick some Oriole butt back to Baltimore.

WEDNESDAY:

The rebirth of Washington Square Park…

In case you didn’t know, and actually care, WSP has been closed due to very controversial construction.  This construction involved moving the fountain about three feet left to be in line with the arch.  This kind of broke my heart because the park is basically the closest thing NYU has to a campus or “college green.”  I can’t imagine my undergraduate years there without it, it’s where we congregate and graduate.  So the incoming classes haven’t had access to it, and the last two graduating classes had to hold all University graduation at the old and new Yankee Stadiums.

Young and old celebrate the grand opening…

 

I have to say, the park is already back to its alive energetic self.

BEAM GREEN

While I was very excited for the park to reopen, my Wednesday night activity was even cooler.

Gena was sweet enough to invite me to a Beam Green event.  First off, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to go to Tavern on the Green for the first time.  While many people rag on it for being a tourist trap, I couldn’t help but want to experience the fairyland atmosphere for myself.  It was even more extravagant and opulent than I could have imagined, yet elegantly so. Check out the chandelier:

Beam Green was simply fabulous…I was actually a bit skeptical at first! BG is a social club with a focus on educating the community on achieving a healthy, organic and eco-conscious lifestyle. The club holds monthly meetings and events featuring prominent health and nutrition experts.  I have been a long time fan of Natalia Rose, and I could not wait to hear her speak!  We also had a great presentation from Dr. Ginger on how to progressively detoxify your diet, body and lifestyle.  It was funny that she mentioned Tiger Balm, which I recently reviewed, as the safest pain reliving cream.  Apparently, many other brands have ingredients that are dangerous when they enter your body through the skin, but Tiger Balm is an all natural and safe alternative!

Mary K. Boehmer is Beam Green’s gorgeous, generous and tireless founder.  Mary truly inspired me last Wednesday; I couldn’t get over how contagious her energy was and how flawlessly she put the evening’s program together.  Her passion and generosity are clear. Team Beam Green is on a mission to help educate the world on eco-conscious living and natural health and well-being, and at only $20 a month for membership, Team Green is the best bargain in NY!

The evening started with amazing delectables from Liquiteria, Babycakes, Whole Foods brown rice veggie sushi, a huge grilled and raw veggie platter with yummy dips, and non-soy coconut ice cream from Stogo.

Below: The tables on the left show “fake health” products according to Dr. G.   And the table on the right was filled with this month’s raffle prizes!

  

Mary sweetly encouraged us not to be shy about taking home the leftovers.  Here is Gena taking home some kale and veggies! Another great dress Ms. Gena!

I have to say I couldn’t wait to get home and devour the info provided in the Beam Green packets!  Oh, yeah, and two breakfast’s worth of green juice!

THURSDAY:

No picture, but I had a cool opportunity to go visit the 50th floor of 7 World Trade Center for an event orientation.  OMG the views were amazing!  I have never seen such a gorgeous view of NY! The Brooklyn Bridge looked so tiny! With a pang of sadness, I must admit I can’t even fathom what the view from 110 floors must have been like! 

Friday:

Blogger Meet Up with Gina the Fitnessista! Wow, I was so excited to meet Gena, a fellow fitness-focused blogger. You won’t  believe it but, she was even more drop dead gorgeous and charming in person.  Not only did I get to meet Gina, but I also got to meet/see again,  Ashley, Meghan, Gena, Brooke, Megan, and Katie.

Seeing this photo, I hate myself for not wearing heels!  I am so freakishly short!

It’s all the fault of these:

Yeah, I need to accept that I am midget and must always wear heels on most if not all social occasions, even if that means forgoing my favorite flats.

So anyways, swiftly moving on from insecurity, lunch was fabulous.  Unfortunately, my lunch hour was more than over before the food was served, so I had to ask them to package it up for me, so I could eat it at my desk.  I am sorry if I was rude girls, but I hate when people take lunch hour and a halfs, and I figured a lunch hour and fifteen was about as far as I could comfortably push it! Despite being desk-side, lunch was super yummy.  I feel bad for calling Caravan of Dreams too hippy dippy.  Their food is holy yum and holy cheap to boot! And the waiter was really nice to put up with my time paranoia!

I had the Ecuador, which was carrot pasta with tomato jicama salsa, pea shoots, scrummy guac, juicy mango chunks and two flaxseed chips.

And a surprise treat:  my co-worker had bought me a green juice from organic avenue!  This one was the strongest I have had yet, it was as “meaty” as a juice can get!  Thanks Claudia!

FRIDAY NIGHT:

No real photos (thanks google images), but I had a fun night at Harry’s Water Taxi Beach with my roommate and a few of our friends.  Plus, Ashley and Bo (the bears) happened to be sitting at the table next to us, so it was one big beach party!  While I had a great time, the drinks were seriously strong, my vodka sodas were basically huge shots with a splash of soda.  So after I was forced  heavily persuaded to get a third, I went to bed with the room spinning around me.  I woke up about 3 hours later and couldn’t go back to sleep, so it was a rough day.  Oh well, it was fun at the time! Maybe I just need some proper training…jk

SATURDAY NIGHT:

Gena and I went to Pure Food and Wine to celebrate her promotion, huge success in the raw food world, and much belatedly, her blog!  An evening at Pure is always a great one, and this was no exception.

We split the sushi rolls, and I had a delicious salad of the day for my entree. 

It was light and delicious.  The tomatoes were absolute divinity and the salt and pepper on the watermelons was genius! The balsamic reduction was very yummy, I didn’t try the pistachio oil, but I am sure it was good!

 

SUNDAY:

I invited one of my girlfriends over for dinner, and decided to prepare a tapas spread.   While there were many more things I wanted to make—roasted Brussels sprouts, grilled asparagus, spinach artichoke dip—since it was only two of us, I tried to restrain myself.  Here is what did make the menu:

Caprese Salad—recipe from Everyday Italian Cookbook.  I made this specifically for Laura, since I typically don’t like cold cheese (except goat and cottage), but OMG, this fresh mozzarella di buffalo was the best I have had since Capri two summers ago.  I couldn’t believe how it melted in the mouth! And the yellow heirlooms were so sweet and mild!

I dressed it with a teaspoon EVOO, half a juiced lemon, a short drizzle balsamic vinegar and S+P. perfect and light!

I also made a very simple baby spinach and cucumber salad.

This is another Everyday Italian cookbook recipe, Sun-dried tomatoes and chickpeas spread. I cut the EVOO from 1/4 cup to 2 tsps and added water to make up for the missing liquid.  This tasted just like sundried tomato hummus.  The only problem, I forgot that I don’t actually like sundried tomato hummus; in fact, I really only like Cedars Garlic Hummus—I’m something of a purist. But if you do like sundried tomato hummus, you will like this.

 

Next, Moroccan Spiced Carrots from Matthew Kenney’s Mediterranean Cooking.  This came out great!  I substituted cooking spray for oil.  Too much oil tends to be the only thing that bothers my otherwise resilient tummy, which is one reason I always ask for dressing on the side.  I also hate my greens being wet or soggy, it really bothers me as a huge texture person.

Also on on the menu, but not pictured: Marinated Baked Tempeh.  I just marinated half a cubed  log of flax tempeh in soy sauce and garlic powder for a couple hours and then baked it in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes, turning once.  Very yummy!

Finally, I saw this on my way out of the store and decided to try it: Sabra’s Caponata.  Eggplant caponata is one of my favorite foods and I make it a lot.  However, I was tempted to see how this compared.  It was good, less chunky than most, with the exception of whole olives throughout.  I don’t like olives, but they were easy to pick out.  It was good, and since I don’t like Sabra’s hummus, I was happy I took a chance on their other products.  Mine is way better, but this was way faster!

All of the above was served with pieces of warm, toasted whole wheat flat bread and a WW wrap. And a very nice Riesling that Laura brought.

 

For dessert, I enlisted Laura to help me taste test some of these great Guiltless Gourmet Dessert Bowls I received quite a while back.   Here’s the deal, they come in three enticing flavors: hot chocolate brownie, black velvet brownie, and banana’s fosters cake.

They have several great features right off the bat,

1. they are portion control
2. they take under a minute to make with NO mess (see below)
3. they are much healthier than any other fudge covered cake I have seen on the market, and they taste very good.

The ingredients like is quite recognizable, we’ve got some sugar and non-whole grain flour, but nothing artificial or scary at all.

Ingredients
Ingredients: Brownie Mix: Evaporated Cane Juice Crystals, Wheat Flour, Cocoa Powder, Nonfat Yogurt Powder (Cultured Nonfat Milk), Palm Oil, Eggs, Kosher Salt, Baking Soda (Leavening), Natural Flavor. Fudge Sauce: Evaporated Cane Juice Crystals, Evaporated Cane Juice Syrup, Water, Cocoa Powder, Nonfat Dry Milk, Cornstarch, Kosher Salt.

The nutrition stats aren’t bad for a warm gooey dessert:  200 calories, 3 grams fat, 3 grams fiber, 4 grams protein

What did we think?  Laura and I sampled the chocolate varieties.  I had the black velvet and though it was really good, natural tasting, certainly not health tasting and very filling. 

Laura had the hot chocolate brownie and said it was yummy and super chocolaty!

About a month ago, I tried the Banana Foster’s Cake:

 

Basically, you just dump the mix into the bowl mix with 2 tablespoons of water and nuke for 30-40 seconds.

Presto: drizzle and enjoy.

While I loved the cake part, I didn’t love the sauce it tasted very very banana to me, and not in a good way, I am not a huge banana person…not even banana bread, so while the sauce was too strong, the cake was awesome.  and again, very filling.

Bottom line: These are a great alternative to a rich dessert, if you want to feel like you are indulging, but don’t want to go hog wild on the “real thing.”  Personally, I think these are great for an occasional treat, but I wouldn’t eat one every night because they are pretty rich and a bit high in sugar, and regular flour for a daily indulgence.  But these are not tiny, so at least you know you will stop at one.

MONDAY:

Breakneck Ridge Hike! (previously described)

Monday night post-hike: 10 minutes in the sauna and then I covered myself in Tiger Balm before passing out!

 

Wow that was a lot of info!

Giveaways: Element Bar @ Hangry Pants

Blog Makeover from Zesty Cook

London: Part 1

Hi bloggies, I missed you and I will be commenting again soon.  This is part one of two recapping my London trip.  In between, I will post some great deals I can’t wait to share with you.  Also, my friend Heather (who I met training for the SF marathon and stayed with in London) is new to the blog world, so I will be recommending all your wonderful blogs to her!

Wow, what a brilliant trip from start to finish! 

I happened to leave on a Continental flight from Newark at almost the exact same time the flight that went down in Buffalo left.  Fortunately, we had no idea until we touched down safely and the cell phones exploded with calls.  Overall, I was very happy with the flight.  I even had the only empty seat on the plane right next to me.  Plus, I had a tv with a choice of tons of movies, shows and cds.  In the total of 14 hours in the air I watched Philadelphia, High School Musical 3 (1 and a half times), the Mentalist, The Big Bang Theory and listened to the new CDs by Brian Wilson, Ti, Ne-yo and Kings of Leon.  I just can’t sleep on anything moving.

I arrived in London and Heather picked me up and drove me to her charming flat in Richmond.

 

 

My sister, Kristen, who was once named Bar Star in Columbus, Ohio, but you know as reviewer of another type of bar–nutrition bars.  Lol!

Jamie Oliver lives right down the street.

Last time I was in London, I felt like I had to spend every single minute running from palace to museum to church to market to government building to bridge to globe to play, this trip I was much more relaxed and hit the perfect balance of sites, museums, shopping and just soaking in the culture and feel of the city. 

I have to say for the foodies, we went to some really awesome places,  you can find good food in London if you know where to look!

The first night we went to Yauatcha on Gwyneth Paltrow’s recommendation.  This is a great, affordable dim sum place, make sure to specify that you want to sit downstairs, where the atmosphere is hip and super sexy.  We will know next time.   

 

 

 

 

The next morning Heather had a gorgeous spread of food laid out in her kitchen.  I am very jealous of spacious kitchens! 

 

 

After that we set off to meet my sister and see the London Tower and the Crown Jewels.

 

  

Don’t try to make a get away with the crown jewels!

 

After that we crossed the London Bridge to check out the Borough Market.   This place was truly incredible!  An absolute foodies paradise.  It put the Union Square Market to shame 15 times over, it was enormous with tent after tent of fruits, vegetables, olive oils, jams, truffles, cheeses, make your own veggie burgers, chili, salads, sandwiches, fresh juices, meats, seafood, bakeries and more! 

 

It was as crowded as a rush hour 6 train, so pictures were hard to take but I did my best!

 

After the market, Heather headed to a sesh with her pilates instructor and Kristen and I walked around the Picadilly area for a bit before stopping for lunch at Wagamama.

I had a great roasted vegetable salad with lots of veggies including aubergine (eggplant) and courgette (zucchini) and Kristen had a bowl of noodle soup.

After lunch we did a bit more walking, the churches in London are truly stunning.  I fell in love with London architecture, I could spend a whole trip just taking photos of buildings. we passed the Globe on the way to the Tate Modern. 

 

The museum was huge, but I prefer the MoMa if I am going for modern art.

After that we hopped on the tube and headed to Harrod’s! 

To give you an idea of the size of the store, they handed me a ten page store directory booklet when as I entered.  The store didn’t disappoint, it was  incrediblylavish and ornate, but tasteful.  Each item had plenty of room to breathe, but yet the each floor was brimming full of gorgeous goods! It was a bedazzled Macy’s Herald Square replete with restaurants and carousels and more!

It was quite the afternoon!  But what I was really excited for was what we had planned for the evening…and that will be in part 2!

Weekly Workout Wrap Up

It’s been a while since I have put it all together for you guys, but here it is a week in workouts.

Monday:

2 mile walk to work

Gym: 30 minutes elliptical, 15 minutes abs, 5 minute run

Tuesday:

2 mile walk to work

Gym: 45 minute elliptical, 10 minutes rower

Wednesday:

30 minute run, 15 minute elliptical

Leg series:

3 sets total.
I use 5 lbs weights
-12 forward lunges with overhead press (reps are total not each leg)
-12 hammer curls palms facing toward each other with shoulder raises
-12 plie squats while raising arms together toward chin–like a bowtie
-12 squats with bicep curls
-12 stationary lunges on right with over head presses
-12 stationary lunges on left with tricep kickbacks
-12 calf raises with overhead tricep extensions

Thursday:

1 mile walk to work, then hopped on subway because I was running late…ooops!

10 minute bike, 30 minute run, 25 minute swim

Friday:

30 minute elliptical
24 reps on each of 6 leg machines at the gym
Yoga for Weightloss video from Fitness Magazine website. Went through routine, twice not four times.
Try it, it’s fun!

Saturday:

7.5 mile run outside. For part of this I listened to Kara Goucher’s Endurance Boost Itunes workout.

Felt really good, moments of invincibility haha! Although, I felt really tired after my workout; it’s been a long time since I ran long(ish) and hard. But I am going for 9-10 miles next week!

I then watched about 2/3 of the women’s Olympic marathon on TV. Inspiring, even though I can’t believe I could watch people run for almost 2 hours! ( I did keep switching back and forth from the hills marathon!)

Sunday:

10 minute treadmill run
30 minutes on the elliptical with glute kicker mode on
ran up the stairs from 6th floor to 29th, I walked a few.

I am now back from a day at Coney Island, and I think I will finish off my week with some strength and thigh dancing. Maybe a quick 25 minutes at the gym adapting the moves from the Fitness magazine 20 minute workout video.

Looking forward to next week, I am probably going to have to do a lot of morning workouts because I have have a pretty social week lined up–can’t complain about that! I have dinner plans two nights (the little owl and Pure Food and Wine), a movie date (Vicky Cristina Barcelona!) and a raw italian cooking class one night, so hopefully I will wake up high energy!

Oh, if you are a Woody Allen fan, this article/video montage from NYmag is kind of great. I loved Match Point and I LOVE Barcelona, so I hope I am not disappointed!

xoxo

Eating Out Without Filling Out

I admit I am a New York Foodie. I was hesitant to adapt the title, but I have been called it enough times to succumb. My love of restaurants is about more than just the food. I love to know who the owner is, what other restaurants they own, who the chef is, where have they worked, what stars eat there, etc. Atmosphere, decor, and service are also extremely important to me, right down to the place settings. On my first orgasmic trip to Tiffany’s, I bought Table Manners for Teenagers, I was 12. Believe me a lot of time goes into setting down each utensil if the restaurant cares. The food should by artfully arranged on the plate, looking every bit as fabulous as it is going to taste! The staff can really tell you a lot about whether the owners care about your experience. They should be gracious, extremely knowledgeable, not rushing–and in NYC attractiveness tends to be pretty important.

You don’t have to dine exclusively in hot spots (Butter) or celebrity chef owned places (Babbo) to eat well, some hole in the wall places have the most charm (Cafe Habana). If you are on a budget, brunch is the best way to experience NYC dining. For me a weekend without brunch is like Lauren Conrad without (fake) drama-something’s missing.

Just have to include this brunch quote from SITC:

There are very few things this New Yorker loves as much as Sunday brunch. You can sleep until noon and still get eggs anywhere in the city, alcohol is often included with the meal, and Sunday is the one day a week you get the single woman’s sports pages: the New York Times wedding section.

On to the food, so here is my intention for this post. Food is fuel; food is also a cultural connector and a passion for many. However, I realize eating out can be stressful for some people. I want to emphasis that I believe you can eat out, eat what you love, and not gain an ounce.

One of the great things about eating out in the city is that you can liberate yourself from calorie counting because the nutritional information is almost never available. I am not saying that calorie counting is bad or ineffective if it works for you, but for me, it’s far too time consuming, and tends to be obsessive or guilty inducing.

So I am going to give you my thoughts on eating out without filling out. I am also going to give you tips straight from the nutritionist I visited a few months ago, marked with an *.

Some of the tips are more stringent than I the ones I follow, so they are italized. I included them because they are safe and healthy, but I would probably only employ them in the following situations:

1.) I was getting married in a month
2.) My last name was Moss and my first name was Kate (negative)
3.) I had eaten 5 meals at the Shake Shack/Chipotle in the last 3 days.

So you have to decide if they are right for you.

I say they are safe and healthy as opposed to some of the tactics used by some super slim people I know. My point is that if you see a body that is too good to be true, it could be genetics; it could be a health issue you don’t know about, or it might have to do with measures involving a lot more than self-restraint, exercise, coffee and even coke.

So on with the tips.

Tip #1 *Check the menu beforehand. I don’t always do this because I like to be surprised, but it can be good to find a few healthy options before you go. The nutritionist I visited said that she makes sure the place has something she can eat. I can’t imagine telling a date I wouldn’t go to a restaurant they picked because there was nothing I could eat.

Tip #2 *The ONE request rule. This is huge. This can transform your relationship with eating out if it makes you uncomfortable. You can only ask the waiter to make one substitution for the entire meal. So if you want your omelet with egg white only, don’t ask for it to be cooked without oil. If you want you salad dressing on the side, don’t drill the person about the way the cook your fish. If you want your fish cooked with olive oil not butter, make that your request. So let’s say your fish comes drenched a top a pool of teriyaki, just move it to a separate plate, so you have a reasonable amount of sauce.

I like this one because it frees you from getting caught up with a million requests and to relax and enjoy your meal. I never could understand the point of order a scooped out bagel! It seems like ordering a pizza and saying crust only please!

The one request rule makes you more fun to eat with. Also it ensures their will be no bodily fluids in your food. Piss off the waiter, and watch out—it happens even in the best places. PS Don’t lie; they know you are not “allergic” to butter. I understand some people do have allergies and restrictions in which case demand away.

Tip #3 *Use your starches wisely. Starches have a place in your meal, but they can add up quickly (wine, sweet sauces, croutons on your salad) and not satiate you the way other food groups do. So if you want a starch with your meal, figure out how to forgo the bread basket–or limit yourself to a half serving. When I am ordering a salad to go, I sometimes say no bread first because I can never say no to the focaccia slice once they hand it over the counter. Although I do happy accept it sometimes. Remember your first wine is free, the second counts as a starch, so plan it in and enjoy it!

Tip #4 *Pick a pair of appetizers, one that is mainly protein. This is one of my staple strategies. I love to get something like mussels marinara with a goat cheese, pear, walnut salad. Then I can have my slice of bread if I want it. This is great because you are not getting too much food. Obviously, fried appetizers are not your best choices. So stick with cheeses, seafood, veggies, small plates of pasta etc.

Tip #5 If you go for perfection, order a salad and two veggie sides. This was a suggestion by the nutritionist, but it was too stringent for me. I feel like I might be ten pounds lighter if I was always perfect and ordered the lightest meal possible, but I wouldn’t be someone anyone would want to go out to dinner with! It took me a while get to a place where I have a very healthy relationship with food and my body. It was worth the work I put into reframing my ideas for the resulting freedom and the pleasure I take in enjoying all the foods I love in moderation.

Tip #6 If you get stuck at a place where there is nothing healthy, remember you don’t have to finish! Pizza is just not something I go crazy for. If I am stuck at a pizza place, I order a salad, and eat a slice. If I decide ¾ of the way through I am satisfied, I stop—foods with fat do fill me up much faster than the typically low-fat things I prepare at home! I also remember to savour the time with friends as much as the food.

Tip #7 Don’t feel guilty about peer pressure!
I know how it feels when all your friends what to order appetizers, entrees, desserts, multiple drinks. You shouldn’t feel bad if you want to make a healthier decision. If they give you crap, it’s probably more about them than you. Once in a while it’s fine to go a little overboard, but I wouldn’t fit in my jeans if eat heavy, multiple course meals EVERY time I went out. My advice is to not make it a big deal, and order what will make you happy. If someone questions why you are order a veggie burger and steamed vegetables when everyone else is getting fried chicken, corn bread and mashed potatoes. Say, this place is so good, I bet they have a killer veggie burger–or that’s what looks good to me today. If you don’t want an appetizer and an entree, just say, it’s weird that I am always starving, but today I’m actually just not that hungry. Don’t get into anything having to do with weight, or “being good,” just enjoy the food and the great company.

Since I eat out several times a week I do pay attention to making healthy (but delicious) choices, otherwise I would probably be sluggish all the time. But on special occasions or at really amazing restaurants (The Modern) I order absolutely anything I want. If you eat when your hungry and stop when your full, it is unlikely you will ever have a weight problem. It’s the damn emotions that get in the way.

So what do I order?

Well I typically have no problem getting all my grains, fruits, veggies (and sweets) in, but I am not always good about including protein in my diet. I am too chicken to prepare fish at home, so I usually take the opportunity to order it while I am out.

So in an American restaurant or steakhouse:

I will probably order a fish dish, with a steamed or sauteed veggie. I’ll have whatever carb comes with it and eat a reasonable portion of it.

Again I often do the double appetizer-requesting both to ome with the entrees.

Mexican:

Fish tacos in corn tortillas with sautéed spinach and beans

Veggie fajitas—loaded with all the fixings, but I skip the chips and margaritas. Although I do enjoy sangria from time to time.

Enchiritos with extra salsa and salad with jicama and avocado

Italian: my fav! I order whatever looks best to me! Otto is one of my favorite places because they keep portions small! I love the pasta a la norma, which is pasta with eggplant and ricotta.

I am a big pasta primavera fan, but I typically eat all the vegetables, and find myself satisfied with a small portion of pasta, maybe ¾ cup.

Oh and mussels fra diavolo over angel hair.

I also take advantage of the simple salads and broth based soups Italian places offer.

If I am going more tapas style, I will get a salad, eggplant caponata and/or broccoli rabbe with pecorino, a cheese selection with fresh jams, and enjoy some fresh bread.

If there is an amazing sounding risotto, I might pick that.

Thai: Love veggie spring rolls in rice paper, avocado grapefruit salads, papaya salads, and lettuce wraps. Sometimes I do a sautéed dish.

Greek: I love sampling a little bit of everything, pita, hummus, babaganoush, feta, eggplant, bulgar dishes, roasted cauliflower, kolokythoanthoi, dolmas:you can’t really go too wrong if you stick to plant based items.

Sushi: Any kind of brown rice veggie roll (I’ll do white if they don’t have brown). Squash is one of my favorites. I typically love to order an avocado salad, a roll and edammame.

Brunch: I have never been a breakfast person. My parents had to fight with me to eat it, feeding pbjs and cheesecake even! Now I am better, but as mouth watering as bananas foster brioche french toast and Belgian waffles with fire roasted peaches sound, I just don’t like the taste. Occasionally, I will try chocolate chip banana pancakes–they sound so good, I wish I loved them! My favorite brunch is actually pretty healthy, a HUGE fruit salad with yogurt, paired with whole grain toast and preserves. If the place has great baked goods (Balthazar), I’ll go for a croissant (love them) or muffin (ditto) instead of toast. I have never been an egg person, the texture is a bit weird to me. But I finally learned to appreciate frittatas, especially loaded with sun-dried tomatoes, spinach and goat cheese. 7a is one of my favorite hole in the wall places to have a brunch.

What to do about dessert?

Order whatever looks best! I almost never pass up dessert. But I do always share, by the 4th, 5th or 6th bite I am usually as satisfied as I am going to be, no need to take 20 bites to experience cheesecake. I have to admit, it doesn’t always stop me!

Nutritionist recommendations:* kinda boring, but if you are into that sort of thing: sorbet, fruit (with fondue is acceptable), berries.

Note that none of these rules apply in foreign countries. Leave no carb behind, never neglect the bread basket or pasta plate, drown yourself in olive oil, knock back the vino and gorge on gelato. When you get home the scale will probably read lighter than when you left it. I do not know why this system works, but I have proven it over and over