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{Fun} Birthday Quiz & Perfect Weekend

I saw this survey on debbie’s blog a few days ago and I couldn’t resist.

The Birthday Quiz

A. Age: 26 as of yesterday.
B. Bed size: Queen.
C. Chore that you hate: Cleaning the litter box. (Thanks hon, for relieving me of this duty 9 times out of 10! Love you much.)
D. Dogs: None. (2 cats!)
E. Essential start to your day: Stumptown coffee with milk and stevia; toast with butter; alone time.
F. Favorite color: Purple.
G. Gold or Silver: Platinum.
H. Height: 5’10”
I. Instruments you play: Piano (but not lately) and I sing soprano in 2 choirs (sop 1 in one choir, sop 2 in the other).
J. Job title: Software engineer. (I’m a web developer at a marketing company.)
K. Kids: Someday… soon?
L. Live: NYC – UES.
M. Mother’s name: Same as mine! Different nickname though.
N. Nicknames: Maggie, Meg, Magpie, Mags.
O. Overnight hospital stays: None that I know of. When I was born I guess.
P. Pet peeves: chewing with your mouth open. Having to repeat myself because you weren’t listening. These are the general yous, not you the reader specifically 😉
Q. Quote from a movie: “It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends.” — Dumbledore (in the HP movie)
R. Right or left handed: Right.
S. Siblings: 2 – a younger brother (3 years younger) and a younger sister (6.5 years younger).
T. Time you wake up: Generally sometime between 7:30 and 8:30 am. Later if I had a late night.
U. Underwear: Uniqlo.
V. Vegetable you hate: Hrm… none? I used to hate baby corn but I love it now. I don’t really like mushy peas, does that count?
W. What makes you run late: Sometimes I start cleaning and I get distracted and I end up looking at the time and I should have left for work 30 minutes ago. Or getting back in bed in the morning to snuggle with Bobby before I go.
X. X-Rays you’ve had: At the dentist (many times – a little less than yearly I think) and at the chiropractor once.
Y. Yummy food that you make: Everything? Hehe – I kid, I kid. I made a pretty good broccoli soup last week, and I have been making some yummy gazpacho this summer. I make good eggs with goat cheese and I also make killer roasted veggies.
Z. Zoo animal: I don’t believe in zoos.

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I had a great birthday weekend. Friday night I took Friday Night Flow at Pure with my Ashtanga teacher (I haven’t been to ashtanga in a while). Then I met up with Bobby and we grabbed a quick dinner at Kobeyaki – think Chipotle but for Japanese food. I got the shrimp teriyaki on brown rice and a seaweed salad on the side. (B got the chicken teriyaki and a beer.)

We later hit up Rockwood (a live music place with a bar) and saw the Delta Saints – I’d never heard of them but they were awesome. They are from Nashville, TN. I listened to their stuff online when we got back but they were much better live, so if you ever have a chance to see them definitely go. They are incredibly talented. The singer’s voice is great, the guitarist is great, the bassist too, the drummer, and there is another guy who plays a bunch of random instruments including harmonica – he was awesome too.

Saturday I went to hot yoga in the morning, sat at a bank doing stuff for my co-op (I’m on the board), and my mom came into town for the day. We got a delicious lunch at Pret a Manger – love this place. My mom told them it was my birthday (embarrassing! kind of) and they gave me a cookie. I got the turkey-basil-hummus wrap and a decaf.

We went out to Brooklyn where we met up with Bobby’s cousins (from Japan). Walked around a bit, then came back to the city. That evening was pretty chill.

Then this morning we went to Le Pain Quotidien with my mom (I got a soft-boiled egg and bread) before she headed back to NJ. B and I went to central park and tossed a frisbee around and I did some yoga in the park. We walked around before coming home. It’s a gorgeous day in NYC today. Crisp and cool (not too cool), not humid, sunny – the perfect weather. We stopped at Williams Sonoma and got a few kitchen items, and grabbed dogs at Grey’s Papaya before heading back to our apartment.

Now that I’m home, honestly I want to take a nap! But I think I will do some food prep for the week and maybe do some reading.

All in all a lovely weekend. It is SO nice to have almost nothing planned for once. I have got to stop booking up my free time. I am very content to meander with my husband and just enjoy not having anything specific to do.

What did you do this weekend? Do you overbook yourself? What are your answers to the quiz?

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{WIAW, food} What I Ate Wednesday, CSA Chat

I belong to a CSA – the 92nd Street Y CSA – and each week we get a shipment of fresh, organic, local vegetables from a farm just an hour or two north of the city.

This means that I tend to eat similar foods week to week, because the CSA sends me foods that are in season. It’s great when we get my favorites, like squash – but it can sometimes be overwhelming in the summer when I’m getting pounds and pounds of greens.

This CSA is organized by volunteers, so each member has to volunteer to man the pick-up table at least one. Last week was my week (Thursday). I got sent home with about 4 full bags of veggies and I could barely carry it the 2 long blocks to my apartment. In the bags I got:

  • many pounds of beets (and then more again this week!)
  • broccoli and cabbage (and more again this week)
  • butternut squash (the allotment was 1, but since I was volunteering I was able to take home many of the extras at the end)
  • tomatoes, eggplant, & shallots
  • basil & hot peppers
  • 3 dozen eggs (I gifted 1 dozen to a friend; I will probably gift another dozen because I get 1 dozen each week and I can barely finish them)
  • peaches, plums, and nectarines
  • 2 loaves of raisin bread (brought 1 to work and it was demolished), 1/2 loaf of whole wheat bread, 1 piece of focaccia

I have been trying to use all of that up this week. Here are some of the beautiful squash:

I think I could eat squash until I turn orange.

What I Ate Wednesday

  • breakfast was coffee and a medium-sized chunk of raisin nut bread toast with butter
  • lunch was 2 scrambled eggs and roasted veggies (beets, broccoli) for lunch
  • a large-ish nutty biscotti (grabbing coffee with a friend)
  • went to a yoga class at 6pm (had to sneak out of work early! I made up for it later in the evening)
  • dinner was a tuna salad sandwich on focaccia from a nearby restaurant (Cavatappo Grill) that came with a side salad
  • dessert was a cup of greek yogurt (0%) with cinnamon, stevia, and PB2
  • and I ate a few roasted veggie pieces as I was putting them in tupperwares (I tend to make roasted veggies at night, before I go to bed – then I eat them the next few days for lunch)

I don’t actually have any pictures, but I do have a picture of my coffee.

How To Make Coffee with a French Press

  • boil water
  • 2 heaping spoons of freshly ground coffee goes into the press (the spoon is a coffee spoon – I want to say it’s 2 tablespoons – so 4 heaping T’s in total)
  • pour the hot water over the grounds, let sit
  • after one minute, give it a stir and put the top on (don’t press down yet)
  • wait 4-5 minutes, then press down
  • put your milk and sugar in your cup first, then pour the coffee over
  • amazing!

That’s all I have. What did you eat Wednesday?