Title inspired by Caronae (I love her blog – a beautiful writer and wonderful woman).

This morning I woke up at 10:10am. Meeting starts at 11. Bobby promised me he would go with me this week. I got him out of bed at 10:30 (late) and we showered and went on our way. We were only 20 minutes late and I enjoyed the silence and the few spoken words for the next 40 minutes. I like it.

We left meeting and began to walk. We walked along 15th street over to Union Square. We got three buck chuck at Trader Joe’s (3 bottles). We walked down to Souen (closed; something wrong with the boiler room). I remembered that Marina had told me about a fantastic vegetarian lunch place nearby: Quantum Leap.

I celebrated pancake Sunday. I ordered the pancakes (multigrain) with fresh fruit (bananas and apples) ($8 something). I did use all the butter but only used a little syrup. I finished this all, whith a little bit of help from Bobby (he had maybe half of a pancake). I was quite full and satisfied. These are the 2nd best pancakes I have ever had (first best are from my dad’s recipe).

Bobby ordered “The Mexican” ($10 something), which consisted of a vegetarian chicken enchilada thing with guacamole, sour cream, salsa, fake sausage, and eggs. It was fine. I’m not a savory breakfaster.

We walked over to Peanut Butter & Co. Realized I should never work in a place like that unless I want to be obese. We didn’t get anything.

We walked up 5th avenue all the way home. I got votive candles at Pier 1 and a tea at Starbucks with half and half and all the spices.

Came home. Went back out to Gap and Banana. Scored great clothes. Came home. Made dinner (teriyaki turkey and tofu for bobby; lamb and veggies and various animal fats for me). Drank wine. I drink wine now. It was cabernet.

And now I will either go get frozen yogurt or relax in front of the olympics. I don’t know how much I like the olympics. It seems like everyone in them has serious food or body issues. I guess I’m more attuned to that kind of thing than the average person who just thinks that these athletes are incredibly dedicated and accomplished.

Signing off now. Big week ahead. What did you do this weekend?

Happy Valentine’s Day! What did you do?

Bobby and I went out for a Valentine’s day brunch because we weren’t sure what we were doing tonight (and because we love brunch). We still don’t know what we’re doing tonight… takeout pizza perhaps?

I was debating and debating what to get. I kind of wanted French toast, but I’m trying to avoid too many carbs (they set me up for craving carbs all day long, and then I overdo it at night). I kind of wanted eggs, but I had eggs on Friday, a scramble yesterday (Saturday), and I’ll probably have eggs again tomorrow (Monday).

So I ended up getting something I haven’t had in ages – fruit and cottage cheese! I made sure the cottage cheese was the full fat kind, not the diet one. This plate was only $8.95 and it was quite large (I did finish it). I also ate Bobby’s salad that came with his rice and quiche.

I’ve been experimenting a little bit with dairy (I usually avoid it because I thought I was semi-allergic) and it’s been working out very well. So I will be eating more of it! (Especially cream cheese on my veggies… yum.)

I went vegan for brunch yesterday – I met up with Marina and Missy down at Blossom on 9th Avenue (between 22nd and 23rd Streets). Blossom is an organic and vegan cafe. We all decided to get the same exact thing: the Tofu Scramble ($13). I got extra ketchup (click here for my ketchup recipe) for my scramble.

Description from the site: Fresh tofu sautéed with onion, mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, and soy sausage. Served with toast; salad or fries. Missy and I got salad and Marina went for the fries. The salad was okay – I didn’t really like the dressing much, and I don’t like those silly spring greens that are so popular with the organic crowd. I like romaine and iceberg. So there! I know they’re probably not as “healthy” as spring greens, but I don’t care.

After brunch Marina and I moseyed over to Whole Foods in Chelsea (7th ave and 23rd street) and got some goodies. Then I went home, and later… I bought my wedding dress! I so wish I could post it here, but Bobby refuses to let me show him (I tried), so I’m not going to ruin it for him. If you email me or ask in a comment I will send you a picture of me in it.

I think we are actually ordering pizza (Domino’s pizza is now really good – especially if you order with less cheese!), so I am going to go watch the Olympics and hang out with my valentine.

Go give someone a hug!

What’s your favorite brunch food?

Today was an interesting day. I woke up early-ish (for a weekend) and I had the urge to finish painting my bathroom… so I took my vitamins, had some chocolate, made some tea, and got to work.

One and a half hours later I stepped down off of the kitchen stool and surveyed my work. It looks good. Pictures may be forthcoming. I then assembled a bathroom shelf thing that has been waiting to be put up (waiting for me to finish the painting) and actually managed to screw it into the wall. It is not the fanciest of shelves, but it’s clean and simple and it does what I need it to do.

At this point I was pretty hungry, so I woke Bobby up and we ordered big salads from downstairs (Metro Cafe). Our salads always end up being complete opposites – but both are (I think) delicious (Bobby does not like my salads – too kitchen-sink-y). Metro is having a deal this month – unlimited topping salads for $6 if you order online.

After an hour or so of doing nothing, I got incredibly anxious. I avoided stewing in my anxiety by getting out of the house and going for a walk. It was terribly cold today, but the walk was just what I needed. I walked across Central Park South, up to 72nd Street, then back across The Park. I mapped it and it was about 3.2 miles.

Today happened to be the Winter Jam at The Park, which meant that there was music, a snowboarding show, and some free samples. I picked up a bag of apple slices and a lollipop (both given to Bobby) and I bought 4 Fuji apples ($1.50/pound) for myself. The apples are gone (oops).

We ordered Hawaiian for dinner and I supplemented with a big bowl of oat bran and oatmeal mixed together. I cooked it in almond milk and it was so creamy. Topped with maple syrup and more almond milk.

And I’ve been snacking on a bunch of fruit as well. And this kombucha tea (it was on sale for $2):

I’m working on this thing where I say, “wouldn’t XXX be nice,” rather than, “I WILL” or “I MUST” and so on. This is a recommendation from my acupuncturist to help me with my stress and anxiety. It’s kind of working. It will definitely take practice. It’s not something that can happen overnight.

What are you working on? Renovations on your house, in your life, physical, mental, whatever?

More Blueprint Cleanse Info:

I opted for Level 3: Excavation. This is the most intense level because the juices are all green; the other levels have more fruit juices. Dori did Level 1: Renovation (she likes green juice, but not the romaine that BPC adds).

6 juices per day.

1. no.1: Green juice – romaine, celery, cucumber,green apple, spinach, kale, parsley, lemon.
2. no.2: Green juice – romaine, celery, cucumber, green apple, spinach, kale, parsley, lemon, ginger.
3. no.3: Green juice – romaine, celery, cucumber, green apple, spinach, kale, parsley, lemon.
4. no.4: Spicy Lemonade – filtered water,lemon, agave nectar, cayenne.
5. no.5: Green juice – romaine, celery, cucumber, green apple, spinach, kale, parsley, lemon.
6. no.6: Nut milk – filtered water, raw cashews, agave nectar, vanilla bean, cinnamon.

I would definitely be able to make most of these – they are really similar to the green juices I was having over the summer.

• My first juice
• More juice
• Jazzy juicing
• I’m a juice addict
• The juice is worth the squeeze

I had a lot of trouble today. I woke up and did the 30-day shred, so I probably set myself up for being hungry all day long. By 2:30pm I had finished 4 juices – leaving just 2 for the rest of the night. I also cheated and had 2 cups of coffee with a little bit of the nut milk.

At 5:00pm, instead of going for one of the remaining juices (green or cashew milk) I went downstairs to a cafe and got a banana. I tried to chew it well so as not to overwhelm my stomach. I sipped water until I went home from work around 7:30pm. I did not want any more juice. I saved the green one and the cashew milk for later. I might have the green juice tomorrow morning.

Bobby made healthy fried rice for dinner, so I had a big bowl of that. I pretty much only ate the rice because I wanted to stick with one type of food – it’s easier for digestion if you have just carbs, or just protein, etc…

Bobby makes the best fried rice. And after dinner I had 2 cookies made by Auntie Jo (so good!). Carbs,right?

My stomach actually feels okay – I was so so hungry all day today no matter how much I drank or ate and I was worried that when I started eating lots of solids I would feel like crap. But it’s okay so far… I’ll let you know how it pans out. I still feel hungry and I know I’ve had enough – it was a lot of rice.

I don’t know if I would do a cleanse like this again. For one thing, it’s really freaking expensive! It’s $195 for 3 days (but I had 25% off so it was about $146). That’s a little more than $8/juice… which is pretty standard, but I can’t justify it! Especially since it wasn’t enough and I had to eat additional stuff each day (yeah, yeah – some people are okay with being hungry – I’m not). I think if I want to do this in the future I’ll just “juice ‘til dinner” and make my own juices. I’m going to NJ tomorrow so I’ll bring back my Breville juicer this weekend.

Overall – I’m really glad I did it. My stomach is/was flat for a few days and I lost the bloating. It made me realize the importance of appreciating food and not going overboard. It made me recognize that I need to be gentle to my stomach/digestive system because it’s sensitive. But I am SO glad it’s over.

If I don’t post tomorrow… Happy New Year! What are your plans? We’re going to New Jersey tomorrow after work and we’re going to a friend’s house for a small party. I think we’re coming back into the city on Saturday (Bobby is seeing a Nets vs. Cavaliers game).