I have had a really amazing 6 day streak of happiness. Ever since Wednesday night I’ve been over the moon. Since I’m in such a good mood I wanted to give an update about the thing that makes me the happiest girl in the world: getting married to Bobby, the most amazing man I have ever met! (The engagement post is here.) I am also excited about a product review that I’m going to do for a company that sells bar stools – stay tuned Maybe I will get some bar stools for my wedding, hehe.

We have picked a place for the ceremony – the meetinghouse I grew up going to in Yardley, PA. Here is a nice picture (this is in the winter):

They are so sweet – when my dad told them I was getting married they blocked off every weekend in July for us (we still haven’t picked the exact date).

Now for the reception! We have a few options. We may be able to have it at the meetinghouse, if we can get them to let us have wine and beer (Quakers typically do not drink, myself included). If that doesn’t work out, we will likely have it at my parents’ house in New Jersey. My really sweet Auntie Jo and Uncle Morris (remember our gingerbread houses?) offered their house (in Flushing) for the reception as well – they have a great backyard. I think we will have a party there this summer anyway even if we don’t have the reception there.

Speaking of Auntie Jo, we took a really awesome cooking class last week… I must update about that. Soon, I promise. It was called “Eat Local, Drink Global” and the focus was fish. The very talented Peter Berley was the teacher. I think Bobby is jealous of my celebrity crush on him.

Onto the food! Here are some yummy things I have eaten recently: frozen yogurt from Berrywild – The Art of Yogurt.

Berrywild has two kinds of yogurt – “berry smooth” and “kinda icy”. Bobby and I both got “kinda icy” (they taste the same, but “kind icy” has fewer calories). So good! I will definitely go back. Bobby always gets toppings but I am too cheap for toppings.

I like to switch up my morning breakfast grains (when I go for grains). This is grits with lots of cinnamon (that’s why it’s kind of brown and looks like oat bran). I topped it with agave nectar and coconut oil.

I don’t understand what the difference is between coconut oil and coconut butter. The oil is solid at room temperature, so it’s kind of buttery. The butter melts really easily just like the oil. Are they the same?

I was thinking a lot about oil this past weekend (I have weird thoughts). I went through a phase where I did not eat much oil, and I was miserable. You can’t get full not matter how much you eat, you are cold, and your skin is dry. High quality oil is amazing for your skin, hair, hormones, etc… You have to eat fats! It is so important. I would even go so far as to say that eating more fat will help you lose weight, provided that you don’t overdo it. I have gained weight this winter and I know it’s because I wasn’t eating enough fats and I was eating too many carbs. That is changing though – I want to look awesome in my wedding dress this summer

What’s your favorite healthy fat? I think mine is coconut oil or butter. Love them both.

It’s pretty obvious that I really love Souen – I have been there 3 times in the last week (brunch, dinner). Practicing a macrobiotic lifestyle can be difficult at times, but it pays off (I’m not macrobiotic but I strive to incorporate it in my daily life). I know I’ve linked to these things before, but here we go again (just cuz I think they are good resources for macrobiotics)…

• Becoming Whole, by Meg Wolff (book review)
• 2-week wrap-up
• 1-week thoughts
• Lessons learned

Here are some more tips for a DIY Macrobiotic Lifestyle…

Tip #1: Don’t stress. Chill out. Do the things that make you happy, not the things that make you sad/angry/depressed/anxious/etc… So many people forget that stress is probably the number one cause of disease. So don’t stress!

Tip #2: Don’t exercise too much. Incorporate movement into your daily routine, but don’t overdo it. I like to get my movement through walking – I aim for about 2 miles a day. Last week I walked to work every day (I think), so that was 2 miles a day. Then yesterday I didn’t really walk at all, and Today I ended up walking about 4 miles because Bobby and I went out to enjoy the lovely weather we’ve been having in New York. Central Park was beautiful today. Anyway, it all balances out.

Tip #3: Keep your meals simple. Souen has very balanced dishes – the Macro Plate, the Planet Platter (different names for the same dish at different locations) – that incorporate squash (kabocha), veggies (broccoli or kale, carrots, diakon, and hijiki seaweed), beans (pinto I think), and rice (brown). The dishes come with a great dressing (lots of healthy fats) – miso tahini. I cannot get enough! So I had to make something similar for myself.

This was my attempt at recreating last week’s brunch for lunch: kabocha, broccoli, and carrots, topped with a black sesame seed sauce. After this shot I packed it into a tupperware to eat at the office.

The sauce is so simple, and so good. I have been having it on everything this week.

Black Sesame Seed Paste/Sauce – Ingredients

• 3-4 tablespoons black sesame seed powder (probably just ground toasted black sesame seeds)
• 2 teaspoons agave nectar or other sweetener (maple syrup or brown rice syrup would also be good)
• splash of soy sauce (<1 teaspoon)
• water, as needed (for thinning)

Black Sesame Seed Paste/Sauce – Method

Mix the powder, sweetener, and soy sauce. Add water to thin, if needed. Add more powder to thicken, if needed. Adding more agave will make it creamier, which is how I like it.

Hope you enjoyed these macro tips… I’m off to watch more of the Oscars. Go Sandra Bullock! (I loved The Blind Side.)

Who are you rooting for?

Remember Sunday’s best lunch ever? I went to Souen with Bobby and I loved the food. Well, now I’ve had the Best Dinner Ever. We went to Souen last night (the Union Square location) and it was really awesome (again).

Last time Bobby didn’t like his meal much (I think he ordered the wrong thing), but last night was so different. He started out with a natto roll (fermented soy beans, brown rice, seaweed, and wasabi and ginger) ($4.00).

Then our main dishes came out. I got the Planet Platter ($8.50! great deal), which is very similar to my brunch last week. It’s a huge plate of brown rice, beans, steamed kabocha squash (!), steamed kale, hijiki seaweed, steamed daikon, and steamed carrots.

Ahh, it was heavenly. I got the miso tahini dressing (again). I am a creature of habit, yes. I finished almost all of this at the restaurant; brought home some of the rice for later but caved and had it as a midnight snack.

Bobby got the Chick Pea Croquette (3 pieces of deep-fried chick pea croquette with curry carrot sauce; served with yam and mesclun salad) ($13). It came with veggies and brown rice.

I tried a piece of a croquette at dinner and we took the 3rd croquette home (he was full from the sushi)… which I had with my midnight rice snack. Yum! These were really good but really garlicky – my mouth was so gross this morning, even though I brushed my teeth really well.

I am actually off to Souen again (Soho location this time) to meet a blogger – I have not decided what to get yet. I think the menus are different at each location. I also want to get my nails done today! I haven’t gotten a mani or pedi in ages.

What are you doing this weekend?

I’ve jumped on the cool kids club: Formspring Me. Click there to ask me anything!

I’ve been very inspired by a few (Nicole) beautiful (Gena) posts (Melissa) the last few days. It’s also National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, so I thought it might be an appropriate time to discuss some of those topics. I will try to do another post later today (I’m working from home, so must get back to that!), but in the meantime…

Ask Me Anything.

Enjoy this snowy day if you are in New York, and if you are basking in glorious weather somewhere else – I’m jealous.