Eat, Live, Run

Reporting on Day 2 of the vacation! Happy 4th of July!

Unfortunately I think I’ve caught a pretty nasty cold…but its not stopping me from having a fun and relaxing time. The weather is wonderful and actually pretty cool and the scenery is amazing. After I blogged yesterday I went back to my hammock post and Ryan actually made a little lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwich (with those peanut butter packets on whole wheat bread) with grapes and green tea. It was a very late lunch (around 4) but that worked just fine because we didn’t end up eating dinner until 9:00. Everyone else arrived and we all just hung out on the back porch talking and catching up.

Grandma dot made this amazing chicken last night and Ryan fried the fish that Erin caught last weekend in a tournament—we carried it up here packed in ice all the way from tampa! There was also homemade squash casserole (VERY southern) and I had about a glass and a half or so of red wine. I’ve heard red wine unplugs your sinuses??! Maybe that’s just an old wives tale but I did feel better after I drank it I ate about 75% of the chicken and 1.5 fish sticks. Ryan ate the rest!

I was quite full after dinner but Grandma Dot made her famous homemade pound cake so I cut a very thin slice and ate half of it. Then it was off to bed for me!

This morning Ryan and I woke up early because we had a date with the horses! As part of my birthday present, Ryan got us a two hour trail ride through the mountains and it was great—despite my cold. I made some quick oatmeal for breakfast (1.5 packets of hempplus with a banana) and then we were off. I rode Frosty and Ryan rode Seeker. Seeker liked to eat and Ryan had to keep quite a tight grip on him the whole time! It was gorgeous though and quite cool. I love the Mountains. For those of yall that are wondering, we are in Mars Hill—its about 45 minutes from Asheville.

I guess I’m a full blown meat eater again because lunch was pulled pork sandwiches on whole wheat bread with grapes. It was really really really good……..haha. I feel bad because Erin and Tricia went on a run but I just don’t think I’m up for it, feeling the way I do. I want to save my strength so I can have a good time for the weekend.

Happy 4th!!!! We are grilling out later along with probably most of yall and Grandma Dot bought me veggie burgers to grill! Even though I eat meat now I still would much rather have a veggie burger than a meat one. Just tastes better to me I guess!

I’m off to shower and get in my 4th of July dress Have a great one yall!!

We arrived! But….the bad news is that I think I’m sick…hopefully I’m just tired but I’m all achy, stuffed up and just plain blah today. I’m hoping that if I rest today (which I have been doing) I will feel better tomorrow and the rest of the weekend!

The drive was 12 hours yesterday! We picked up Erin at the Atlanta airport around 11 pm and kept on heading north up to the mountains. We didn’t arrive until 4 am!!! Ryan was such a sport and drove most of the way because I’m not the best at driving at night, especially up such steep winding roads. We stopped in Gainesville last night for dinner at this “run in run out” sushi place. Its the quick version of a really popular sushi restaurant up there called Dragonfly. I ordered a spicy tuna rice bowl and it was very yummy although huge and I couldn’t finish it!

Then….later the snacks came out. I had a nectarine, some Leapin’ Lemurs and an apple late into the night. At least I packed healthy snacks!

It’s so gorgeous here and I’m so upset that I don’t feel well. I didn’t fall asleep until 5:30 though this morning and woke up at 9, so that might have something to do with it also. I’ve just been laying around all day, in bed and in the hammock on the porch trying to rest.

For breakfast, Grandma Dot made us an old fashioned southern meal—-bacon, eggs, toast and grits! Now this is NOT healthy but it sure was good. It doubled as breakfast and lunch since we ate it around noon and I haven’t been hungry since! All those fats will sure keep ya….

We are waiting on the rest of the family to arrive and I think I might go fix a super late lunch right now. Totally glad that I found the internet though so I can update you all with everything, even though my posts might only be once daily!

I’m off to go lay again in the hammock and stare out at the mountains……….hopefully this mountain air will revive me asap!

Wow!! Sorry for the super delayed post!!!! Today has been crazy!

I slept in until about 8:30 and then had to rush to go pick up Erin’s (ryan’s sister) dog because she is driving with us and we are picking up Erin at the Atlanta airport tonight around 10:30. I took Aspen (the doggy) to the groomers and raced around doing last minute errands all day.

For breakfast I had 1.5 packets of HempPlus oatmeal made with water and a banana. It held me over for about 4 hours while I ran errands and then I picked up a Hummus and Kale Salad wrap from the health food store to take with me to get my hair highlighted. I love these veggie chips but I didn’t want to eat all of them and feel bloated for the car ride when I’m sure this weekend will be full of rich foods and drinks! I only ate the carrots and green beans out today. Everything has been very rushed!

But now its about 3:00 and Ryan, Aspen and I are about to start on our 10-12 hour car journey up to the mountains. I think the weather might be a bit chilly at night (in the 50’s!) and I conveniently bought a new top and sweater from Anthropologie this morning……I told you I’ve been in a rush! haha Anyways, I’m packing tons of snacks for the car and will take a ton of pictures so no one worry. In the snack bag I’ve got “Leaping Lemurs” cereal (by the same maker as panda puffs, its chocolate and peanut butter cereal), raw almonds and z-bars. I think we are going to stop somewhere to eat in northern florida tonight but it will probably be along the lines of subway or quiznos. I wanted to have time to pack sandwiches but the day got away from me and clearly shopping at Anthro was more important. Oops!

About the internet this weekend. Much to my dismay, Ryan just informed me that we won’t even get cell phone service where we are going. I’ll still try everyday to blog but if there’s no wireless connection I will just have to make a massive post on Sunday when we get back. Hopefully that won’t be the case though!! My laptop is pretty good about picking up random connections from places so I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll be able to get online. Regardless, I fully plan to photograph everything—even when Ryan and I go horseback riding on Friday! =) So just know if I do disappear for awhile, I will be back!

Hi, everyone!

Well, I made it through my workday and got home pretty early to Tampa, around 5:30. Ryan is with his sister at a baseball game and that gave me time to come home and catch up with my mom. We made dinner tonight tonight and observed Dexter and Mikan (my parent’s dog) playing together because she is cat-sitting for the week. So far, so good. Dexter just likes to sit and look outside the window and the biggest struggle is keeping Mikan out of his food!

The soup was a GREAT snack today! I’m going to stock up next time I go to the store. It filled me up and warmed me up as well since I sit under the cold ac all day. When I got into Tampa, however, I did snack on a couple almonds and about three or four kashi crackers while I was helping my mom cook.

We made a recipe from one of our favorite cookbooks—Blanchard’s Table. It was spaghetti with mushrooms, chicken and lemon. Very good! We used whole wheat angel hair pasta (my fav!) and the sauce was simple with organic rotisserie chicken breast, lemon juice and zest, organic mushrooms, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and red pepper flakes. Simple ingredients that made up an elegant meal. We also had this amazing olive bread from The Fresh Market and red wine (I had one glass).

But….at my house there is always dessert and tonight my mom made me a coconut sorbet parfait with fresh berries and a dollop of whipped cream on top. Divine!

ahhh only 9 more hours until summer vacation!!!!!!!

I’m SO ready! I just have to get through this workday, race home and pick up Dexter, then head out to Tampa. I’m having dinner with my mom tonight (shes cooking) and then tomorrow, after getting my hair done of course, Ryan and I are setting out on our journey to the mountains. We aren’t leaving until about 4 tomorrow though so it is going to be one of those things where we don’t arrive until 3 am, but I’m driving the first half and he’s doing the second half so we can break it up a little bit. They say you really don’t know a person until you travel with them, and since Ryan and I have traveled down the entire country of France together (after getting on the wrong train going in the wrong direction. long story), I think we are good. I’ll bring a snack bag and hopefully the time will go by quickly!

As for this morning, I woke up and did another 30 minute yoga session. This time choosing the “lunchtime power flow”. It was also really good and definitely woke my body up with all the chatarungas and back bends. I have found over the last two days of doing this that I am totally fine without having a pre-workout snack in the morning since you are supposed to practice yoga on an empty stomach anyways.

When I was done, however, I was quite ready for breakfast and made an english muffin with almond butter and jam. I only ate half of that banana, saving the other half in the freezer for a smoothie sometime. I was pretty full and rather than just stuffing it in since it was on my plate, I tried to eat intuitively and save it.

Lunch is a mish-mosh of things today. A yogurt, about 1/4th cup of hummus, a couple olives and cornichons, some cherries and the last chunk of my baguette. I love lunches like this. I was at a loss for a snack since I seem to be out of things I normally pack like pretzels, fruit, bars….so, I dug down deep in the whole foods snack bag and found this 100 calorie pack of tomato soup! Perfect! Soup feels more feeling because of the volume and I’m aways cold. This might be a great discovery! I also packed some almonds for a little crunch.

Dinner will be later tonight since I’m eating at home. I don’t know what my mom has planned yet but I will make sure to tune in later! Have a great day!

I had an Amy’s pizza waiting for me in the freezer tonight but when I got home from work the weather was stormy and I felt like making something for myself instead of just heating up something for myself. So, I turned to the simplest and truest dinner I know.

Nothing more than bread, an omelet and a salad. This meal kept me going in Paris when I was living on my own and, at times, incredibly homesick. Eggs are cheap and I had a tiny gas stove and not much else. Before I went I always thought you needed to load up “stuff” into your omelet to make it a meal….and I think that is a typical American way of thinking (how can I get more?). But, the French don’t think like that. They see the perfection of the meal in the simplicity that it brings. Simple eggs, a combination of fat and protein that have kept people going for centuries. The perfect omelet need nothing more than a grind of salt and pepper and that’s how I always ate them at my apartment (and out in cafes) in Paris. They rarely serve omelets with ham, cheese and the like. Tonight, however, I did have a small piece of goat cheese I wanted to use before I go out of town tomorrow so I crumbled that up and added it as well. It was really small amount…maybe half an ounce if that.  And, yes, I realize I’ve had eggs two days in a row now but I don’t think I’ll die.  It just seemed good at the time. I also had a glass of red wine.

I watched the movie “Definitely, Maybe” tonight. It was okay. As girlie as I can be, I’m more of a fan of sweeping wartime epics than chick flicks and romantic comedies. Always have been. I’m a fan of Braveheart, The English Patient, Gone with the Wind, The Patriot, Last of the Mohicans….you get the picture. This was cute for a light comedy though and while I watched I snacked on a 100 calorie kettle corn popcorn bag with a couple squares of my 70% dark chocolate. Mixed the chocolate squares into the hot popcorn and the flavors were just fabulous. Kind of like mixing your peanut m&ms into your movie popcorn (my parents do this). I love the sweet and salty combo!

Off to pack and read!

Good morning and happy Monday, everyone!

Ahhh I wish I was headed to Tampa right now instead of headed to work but if I’ve made it this far I guess I can make it til tomorrow afternoon. Two more workdays to go!

I was so tired this morning that my alarm woke me up! I rarely set an alarm because I have this neurotic internal clock where I always, always, always wake up about 5 minutes before my alarm goes off. Even when I’m super tired. It’s weird. But this morning the alarm went off and I was like mid-dream and it just seemed like such a rude awakening! I turned the day around quick, however, when I did a 30 minute morning yoga class in my living room from yogadownloads. This time I tried “morning yoga #1″ and it was really great. A wonderful way to start my day and I enjoyed it a hundred times more than going to the gym and being in such a constant rush! This class focused on body awakening back bends and had flow movements and vinysasas throughout. Even though it was only 30 minutes, I still feel like I got a good workout in and let me tell you, I am SO sore from doing yoga the past two days! My arms, my legs, my back…my biceps are sore from all the chatarungas and my back is sore from back bends. It feels wonderful!  I am so incredibly happy that I found a way to get back into yoga when I don’t have enough time in my day to go to the studio. It’s such a blessing!

I didn’t eat anything before practicing this morning and that suited me just fine. Afterwards, however, I had the bowl of homemade muesli I put in the fridge last night. It had dried berries, banana, toasted almond slivers and agave in it. I also had a cup of black tea.

For lunch I decided to pack some baked beans I had made a couple weeks ago then put in the freezer. Baked beans freeze and unfreeze wonderfully and are super easy to pack along for lunch. I also packed a chunk of baguette and a peach. For a snack, I’m bringing a yogurt and the rest of the pretzel bag (which is not much but I didn’t just want to throw the crumbs!).

I feel so less stressed that I don’t have school tonight and I can come home after work and relax and unwind! I’m planning on pizza and a movie…

I had a simple early dinner tonight because I have to be at work at 6:00. Earlier today, I made a Spicy Chickpea Soup that I had gotten the recipe from an old issue of food & wine magazine that our pastry chef brought in to work last week. It was an incredibly easy recipe, using a lite coconut milk base, chickpeas, cilantro, tomatoes and garam masala. You throw everything into the blender to puree then just heat up on the stove. I think it took about 10 minutes? It was light and satisfying with spicy Indian undernotes. I froze the other portion for another time since I am going out of town on Tuesday and won’t eat it later this week. With my soup I had a piece of baguette, sprinkled with some herbed goat cheese and broiled for a few minutes so the cheese would melt and the bread was toasty. Along with a small glass of rose wine, this meal was perfect.

I’m not exactly looking forward to working tonight but I offered to pick up the shift and with Whole Foods only a couple miles away, lord knows I need all the extra money I can get. Hopefully it won’t be a late night and I’ll get to leave around 10:30. I’m packing a chocolate chip zbar for a snack later when I can sneak a treat…

This afternoon I snacked on a yogurt while I finished my book. I need something new to read, quick!

All I can say is wow…thank you guys so much for all your support!! I loved reading each of your “happy-lists” and they all made me smile. =)

This morning I did another one of my yoga classes via ipod.  I tried the 60 minute “Detox Flow” class—it was great! Lots of deep spinal twists and vinyasas. I loved every minute of it. I can’t get over what a great idea this is! I only wish I had found out about it years ago! The 30 minute ones will be great for in the morning before work instead of racing to the gym. I think I will try one tomorrow :).

For lunch I made a simple almond butter and jelly sandwich on a rudi’s whole wheat bun with some cherries and a sliced peach. I sort of burned the bun :\ but it still tasted really good.

I made some soup this morning for dinner tonight (will describe more later) and Dexter watched from the breakfast bar. I’ve discovered he always sits and watches me cook like this. It’s so funny! Whenever I am in the kitchen at all, he just hops onto the stool to watch.

Alright.

I’ve been fretting all night (well, not really) about how to tell you all about this. I decided the only way to do it, is  bluntly.

Last night I ate a piece of proscuitto. 

Don’t hate me!!!!

I’d like to say it was a weak moment, but really it wasn’t weak at all and I just wanted to eat it so I did. I hope my actions don’t upset anyone too greatly—I never promised I would stay away from meat for the rest of my life when I said I was becoming a vegetarian last spring. I think I just go through phases….sometimes I want it and other times I want nothing to do with it. I think that’s normal (I hope?). In all honesty, eating what I want and not putting rules or guidelines on anything is what makes me the happiest. I think all girls need to listen to their body and give it what it wants, not punish it because you set a rule for yourself. I think I always lacked the real strength in the matter….even though I didn’t eat it myself I always thought in the back of my mind, “yeah those chick fila nuggets are sooooo good”. I don’t condone how the animals are treated at all but I just love food so much, and have made it such a vital part of my life (hell, I paid 40 grand to make it a vital part of my life!) that I don’t find I can limit myself to anything right now. Deep down, and anyone who knows me knows this, I love all food. I love gourmet food. I love stinky cheese in paris and ham and cheese sandwiches from street vendors in the latin quarter. I also love tofu. And tempeh. And beans. But…sometimes I love a homemade burger made by my dad with real wisconsin cheddar cheese melted on top. And I love raw vegetables and soymilk too. I think theres a balance to it all and no one is right or wrong or less of a person depending on their food choices. Eating meat is not going to make you fat as eating tofu is not going to make you skinny. Eating everything you want in moderation, exercising and surrounding yourself with people you love will make your life better and longer though and I think that’s what we need to strive for. It’s not a competition as to who can eat the healthiest. It’s about each individual and how they make themselves happy because you are all you’ve got.

Okay. That being said let’s move on to breakfast.

I broke out the dusty egg poacher from the cabinet and made two perfect poached eggs atop Erin’s homemade bread that she brought me from the bakery. I had cherries on the side with orange juice, then later an espresso as I sat on my couch and pondered how to tell you all about last night’s endeavors.

Today is my day to get everything done because I work tonight (picked up an extra shift for tips!), tomorrow and the next day before I leave for Tampa on Tuesday night and then to NC on Wednesday night. I’m going to clean, do laundry, make soup, read and do yoga. Speaking of yoga, my arms are incredibly sore from the power yoga class I did yesterday from the website I told yall about! How about that?! So often we feel we can’t get a good workout unless we are in a gym. Millions of people in the world don’t go to the gym though and still manage to exercise. We just need to step out of the box!

Enough deep, random thoughts for Sunday morning. But first, think of this as a little blog exercise. It might help. Take out a piece of paper (or write it as a comment here) and think of 10 things that make you really, really insanely happy. So happy you grin like you’re four and you just got a chocolate sundae. No particular order. I’ll go first:

1. Raspberry-Rose sorbet from Paris

2. The mountains

3. Eating pizza with Ryan

4. Cooking with my mom

5. Crepes with nutella

6. Barnes and Noble

7. The Nordstrom’s shoe section

8. My home

9. My moleskine journal

10. Writing until my hand aches

What makes you happy?