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Random December List.

Random thoughts and things.

1) I got back from my trip to India on Sunday morning. Amazing trip. I was in Hyderabad for work for ~8 days (it’s a city in the south of India – in the state of Andhra Pradesh). JFK–>DEL the previous Saturday (after a 5 hour delay at JFK due to plane malfunctions – thanks Air India – a 14 hour flight total), did sightseeing on Sunday in Delhi, and then took a short 2 hour flight DEL–>HYD. Worked with an incredible team all week long, and then began the journey back to JFK this past Saturday. Two unexpected things about this trip to India: 1) I didn’t get to do any yoga aside from sun salutations in my hotel room and 2) there are way fewer vegetarians than I expected. I was just about full VEG for the whole trip. (I think I had a chicken sandwich in the airport on the first day.)

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(A sign at Golconda Fort, in Hyderabad – ha! I thought it was funny.)

2) Home renovations are still in progress. I am still very excited about them, but at this point I am getting very anxious to get my kitchen and bathroom back. Showering at the gym is getting old, fast. It’s been over a month now! I think we started on 11/14.

3) More travel plans this week. Bobby and I are going to visit his family in Miami and we leave on Thursday. Construction will continue while we are gone – and hopefully be nearing completion by the time we return. ::Fingers crossed:: Cats are headed to New Jersey.

4) I have only gotten to 4 yoga classes this month so far. But then again, I have only been home for ~8 days of the month so far, so this is actually a good record: one class every other day. Hoping to get to one more before we go to Miami (Wednesday morning?), and 2 more after we return. Bobby has been going with me because he joined my same yoga studio. ::Happy dance::

5) After Miami, we are going to NJ the following weekend to visit my family. Hectic hectic month!

6) I am obsessed with candles. I recently bought this avocado mint candle and this frosted maple candle from Anthropologie (not only do they have beautiful clothes, but they have wonderfully aromatic candles). I also have 3 from this line (also at Anthro).

alexei-frosted-maple-candle-anthropologie

(^^frosted maple^^)

avocado-mint-candle-anthropologie

(^^avocado & mint^^)

whipped-cream-pear-candle-anthropologie

(^^whipped cream & pear^^)

7) My favorite breakfast as of late has been a sugarless berry scone from Butterfield Bakery (unsweetened – not with fake sugar). These things are gigantic but somehow I manage to finish them. On the days I don’t get a scone I get either a fresh croissant (also from Butterfield) or a whole wheat bagel with butter from the deli around the corner.

butterfield-sugarless-scone

8) My heart goes out to the families affected by the terrible school shooting in Connecticut.

I think that is all I have for now. I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season so far. Wish I could spend more of it in New York – NYC at Christmastime is one of my favorite things.

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Viva La Yoga & Fun NJ Weekend

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! I did have a very nice day. I was surprised mid-afternoon Thursday by an ice cream cake:

Apparently my coworkers asked Bobby what kind of cake to get, and he said, “if it’s chocolate, dark chocolate; she doesn’t like normal cake, ice cream is better; something with whipped cream.” It is almost scary how well my husband knows me 😉 And my coworkers are the best.

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I’m not going to keep being cryptic so here is my big news – I’m starting yoga teacher training this coming weekend and it’s going to go for the next 12 weeks (I have 2 weekends off). I’m not quitting my day job or anything, but I have been wanting to do this for a while and I’m so glad I’m getting the chance to now. (Back in California I did 2 weekend sessions of teacher training but did not complete the 200 hour training.) I can’t wait to share my yoga journey here for the next three months.

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Since I’m going to be incredibly busy for the rest of the year, Bobby and I came down to NJ this weekend to spend time with my family and high school friends. We had an awesome time. Bobby and I helped out at the Quaker flea market yesterday (Saturday) by cooking hot dogs and hamburgers and taking down a bridge. I got a few goodies as well – some $.50 cent pillow shams, a dish, some fudge, handmade soap, an adorable laundry basket (whites and darks! but I will use it as his and hers because I don’t separate my colors – do you?), a lazy susan, some cool trays for food, and a bath set (lotions,etc…) … all for under $20 I believe.

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I actually have a bunch of weekend link love links for you but I’ll post them tomorrow. In the meantime, I want to share three songs I am loving. For the first – I don’t usually like Diddy all the much, but I really like this song (mainly because of Skylar Grey’s voice – she’s not either of the girls in the video though).

Here is a Skylar Grey song:

And here is an Adele song that Bobby got me hooked on a few days ago. This girl is majorly talented, and her voice is like pure honey.

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Final Wedding Plans & Fresh Italian Food

We had a very productive 2 days in New Jersey – we worked in the yard (thanks Dad!) and made schedules (thanks Mom!) and generally figured out what we need to do this week for final wedding planning.

It was also my mom’s birthday on Saturday, so we went out for a nice dinner. Happy Birthday Mom! (We got her a gift certificate to our favorite salon/spa – Sydney Albert in Princeton.) I got this Shrimp Caesar Salad at the restaurant:

We ate at the same place that we are having our rehearsal dinner (gah, Friday!). They serve good Italian food and it’s very home-y. It’s also convenient because it’s walking distance from my parents’ house (the reception location).

I apologize for this rambling, rather non-topical post. My brain and life are rather disorganized at the moment.

Exercise of the Day(s):

  • Saturday we didn’t really exercise, but there was definitely some walking fit in there. It’s always nice to have a rest day.
  • Sunday we worked outside for an hour or so, and we walked to the movie theater 2 blocks away to see Inception (good movie, but I didn’t think it was as good as everyone was making it out to be).
  • Monday – walk to and from work (2.8 miles) + a video TBD (20-30 mins).

Have to go downtown this afternoon to pick up our marriage license! My mom is in the city today so I will probably meet her for lunch.

Off to work… Any last minute wedding tips? The main one I’m trying to follow is to STAY CALM.

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New Jersey: Trail Making & Wedding Planning

I mentioned on Sunday that we had adventures in New Jersey over the weekend. I happened to wake up around 7:45 on Saturday morning and I caught up with my dad before he left to go work on a nature trail by my parents’ house. He had to be there by 8:30 so I quickly convinced Bobby to get out of bed and come with us (this took a ton of some effort) and we arrived almost on time.

We worked on the Rockhopper Trail (so named because of the many rocks by and on the trail) all morning. Here are some pictures that the organizer, a very nice guy named Alan, took.

That last picture features Morel Mushrooms that one of the volunteers (Ben) found.

We split up into groups for the trail work. I worked on clearing out some invasive Multiflora Rose (an evil plant that scratched my legs), Bobby got to work on a drainage ditch, and my dad made some really impressive stone steps on a few parts of the trail. We even met another Cornellian – Bobby worked with him on the drainage project and they got to reminisce together.

After the trail work we went with my mom and sister to Whole Foods… for wedding planning. Yes, I think I am going to have Whole Foods cater my wedding. I want something seasonal, reasonable, and Maggie-approved – and Whole Foods fits the bill. I may keep some of my planning secret from now on though. I know that a lot of people that are coming read the blog and I don’t want to spoil the surprise of the big day.

I’m off to watch some Bones – my new Netflix streaming addiction. It’s yet another one of those formulaic crime dramas that I love so much.

What do you do after work during the week?

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Menu Plan Monday: when things don’t go as planned!

I started doing Menu Plan Monday (MPM) again last week in an effort to get myself cooking regularly again. I ended up making a few new dishes (Vietnamese Shrimp Salad, Summer Rolls).

I realized though that I can’t decide on Sunday what I’m going to eat on Wednesday or Thursday or even the very next day (Monday). I usually don’t know what I want until 10 seconds before it’s time to eat… Unless I plan a salad, because I’m always in the mood for a salad.

Last week I made 2 noodle dishes that were really yummy (will post soon). I brought them for lunch, but I don’t like having noodles for lunch. I like having a salad from downstairs, or oatmeal, or some other weird Maggie food that probably smells funny.

Anyhow, I did find a new breakfast favorite. I have been eating eggs cooked in butter again after listening to these podcasts (Dishing Up Nutrition). Along with my eggs I have veggies – cabbage sauteed in some butter is simple and delicious. I tried a few other veggies but none were as good as the cabbage and butter.

Source.

I told my dad he should try eggs with butter for breakfast and he looked at me like I was nuts. But I really do believe that healthy fats are so important and my skin is agreeing with me. So are my energy levels and my mood.

I won’t be doing an MPM this week, but I will be eating my usuals – lots of eggs and veggies for breakfast; salads, sushis, oatmeals , and whatever else I want for lunch; and probably salads and veggieful meals like these ones for dinner. I also plan on lots of Whole Foods hot/cold bars for lunches and dinners (which happened a lot this past week).

I had a really great weekend in New Jersey (we got back last night) and I do have a few pictures and adventures to share, but I want to go enjoy the last moments of the weekend so I’m going to save that for later. I have also been walking with my new iPod (built in pedometer) while listening to those podcasts I mentioned earlier, and I still love the step count way more than measuring my walks in miles. I like walking and steps are a great way to measure my walks.

One more thing I want to mention is yoga – I haven’t talked about yoga recently because I haven’t really been doing it, but I have snuck in a few 20-minute yogadownload sessions and they have been great. I want to start doing these a few times a week. Just have to get in the habit of doing them after work or after dinner.

What are your favorite standard eats?