LiveLoveNYC

Mushroom pizza bites & lazy times!

2013-05-27T09:14:00.001-07:00

Hi there!

This weekend has been filled with wine, Caesars, good food and a whole lot of lazy time. It feels so great :)

I made Mediterranean salad, New Orleans style seafood and mushroom cap "bagel bites". Super good! Baked the scooped mushroom caps at 400 for 6 minutes, fill with pizza toppings and broil. Yum!

Mushroom caps

Mushrooms

Pasta sauce

Cheese

Olives

I hope you're enjoying the weekend too!

-caitlin

Friday Night Zucchini Cakes

2013-05-25T09:53:00.001-07:00

Hi There!

I hope you had a great week and are as excited as I am for the long weekend! The past few weeks have been go, go, go for me. I was in France at the beginning of the month, then I went home to Canada the following weekend, after that, my aunt and uncle were visiting. I am so happy to just chill this weekend :) Since the weather is not great (rainy,cold,windy) BF and I decided to stay in and hide.

I made dinner for the 2 of us. I made salmon and zucchini cakes - an amazing discovery on Pinterest! These went great with a bottle of Pinot Grigio.

Recipe:

Ingredients:
1 large zucchini, grated
1 large egg
1 c. panko bread crumbs(I used super hot chipotle panko!)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp. Adobo spices (added creole seasoning instead)
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, grated (I used 2% shredded cheddar instead)

Directions:
Remove excess liquid from freshly grated zucchini by placing them between paper towels and squeezing. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Heat a large pan on medium, and spray with Pam. Shape spoonfuls of the zucchini batter into 2-in. (diameter) patties, and drop onto the sizzling pan. Cook each side for about a minute and a half, or until the outside is golden brown. Finish the cakes off in the oven. Stick them on a baking pan and broil them for 1-2 minutes. source: http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/meal-ideas/10-tasty-green-foods-st-pattys-day?page=6

For the rest of the weekend, I don't have very much planned. BF wants to get a BBQ so that might be fun!! Anyway, hope you have a great Memorial Day weekend!!

-Caitlin

Brrrrr Butternut Squash Soup

2012-12-26T14:21:00.003-08:00

Hi There!

I am at home in Canada and it is ab-so-lute-ly freezing here! In addition to being super thankful for seat warmers in the car, being so cold makes me think of one of my favorite soup recipes - Butternut Squash.

I didn't really measure anything when making this, so keep in mind that you should adjust to your own taste preferences! The greek yogurt creates a creamy texture but keeps your skinny conscience happy because its fat free & protein-ful.

You need:

1 butternut squash, peeled & cubed

1/2 a package of veggie stock

1 big white onion

2 pieces of garlic

garlic salt

1 cup greek yogurt (non fat)

salt & pepper

a touch of curry powder

Boil the chopped squash and onion until the are nice & soft.

Blend in your food processor.

Pour it back in the pot & add your greek yogurt & spices. Stir & enjoy!

Goes well with beer :)

Whats the weather like where you are? What do you eat when you're freezing?
I went to the barn with my mom to visit the horses. We brought them some of the gingerbread bears we had made the night before. Did you know horses like gingerbread? Well now you know :)

Merry Christmas :)

2012-12-25T11:39:00.001-08:00

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas. I'm at home in Canada at my parent's house for the week and have been enjoying many movies (ie, Love Actually <3), eating too much, sleeping in and going to the barn. Very enjoyable.

Last night I made gingerbread bears with my mom from a mix I found at Trader Joes. We have never been much of a gingerbread family so this was very new for all of us. The cookies turned out well but I'm still not a huge fan. I'm more of a chocolate / peanut butter person!

This morning we opened gifts and had coffee with Bailey's. I received some great gifts, including new Lululemon pants *note, i have had most of my lululemon gear for 4+ years, so this was very, very welcomed!*, lots of chocolate, cozy socks and an ipod. Great day.

I'm flying back to New York on the 30th but will likely head to Toronto on the 29th to see some old friends.

How are your holidays going?

The last days of fall in Central Park...

2012-11-20T19:46:00.001-08:00

Pretty, pretty, pretty :)

Hope you have a great Thanksgiving!

Trader Joe's Times

2012-11-04T11:35:00.000-08:00

Hi There!

Happy Sunday :) I hope you had a great weekend.

Last night, BF and I went to the Comic Strip comedy club near my apartment and had a great time. There was a 2 drink minimum and having been before, I knew that the Long Island Iced Tea was the best bang for our buck - its basically a glass of pure alcohol and makes even unfunny jokes extra funny. If you're on the UES and looking for a different night out, I definitely recommend it.

A little while ago, I made BF and I special Trader Joe's dinner. I bought their Goat Cheese and Sun dried Tomato fresh ravioli, some vodka sauce, a beautiful aged Parmesan cheese and some spinach.

I have tried TJ's lobster ravioli and wasn't really impressed, but this stuff was awesome. It turned out to be a relatively cheap and easy / fast meal. Both BF and I loved it.

Check it out if you can!

Tomorrow my office is finally going to reopen. After a whole week off doing absolutely nothing, I'm super excited to get back and get my work done. It feels so weird not being able to get back to my clients and more than anything, its weird not having a weekday routine. I like getting up and having breakfast, getting to work, gymming if time allows and then going home! It makes the weekend that much more exciting!

I am off to do some laundry and maybe a little shopping! Hope you have a super Sunday!

Butternut Squash Mac n Cheese

2012-11-01T19:15:00.001-07:00

Hi There!

As all of you (assuming) know, New York was hit very hard by Sandy. I hope all of you are safe and unharmed after the storm.

The night that the storm hit really hard, Monday, I was down at BF's place in the East Village. Very scary stuff. The power and water were knocked out. There were trees down everywhere and just a block or so away cars that were parked on the street were flooded. I feel terrible for the small businesses and residents that were hit badly... :(
Luckily, we were able to make our way to the Upper East Side to my place to find power + glorious hot water. My office has been closed this week as it is down in SoHo where the damage is severe. The past few days BF and I have been attempting to work remotely, drinking wine and watching tv. Fun stuff.

In lighter news, I have been meaning to post this dish for a while. Mac n cheese is one of my favorite things in the whole wide world. Luckily, I found a lighter recipe that uses butternut squash to cut out the majority of fatness. I copied it based on what I had and pure guess work - so no measurements will be listed below haha.

Here is what I used (sorry for the lack of measurements):

- Fresh Sage
- 1 butternut squash
- shell pasta
- vegetable broth
- garlic
- skim milk
- whole wheat crackers
- sharp Parmesan cheese

Step 1 – Cook the bag of pasta so it is al dente or with a bit of a bite to it. Set aside.

Step 2 - Peel & chop butternut squash. Maybe I have been doing this wrong all my life, but this is really, really hard. Any tips?

Step 3 – In a big pot, heat onion, garlic and butternut squash in olive oil over medium heat. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the onions are sort of clear. Add vegetable broth and sage sprigs. Cook for about 20 minutes, add milk.

Step 4 - Cook until squash is tender. Let the pot cool until you can put your hand in it & not burn yourself. Have fun testing it! I burnt myself at least twice.

Step 5 - Blend butternut squash mixture in your food processor and add to pasta in a large baking dish.

Step 6 - Top with a handful of crush crackers + a bit of cheese. Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes.

Step 6 - Eat.

Again, I hope all of you are safe and dry after the storm. Sandy turned out to be a huge bitch and will not be forgotten - my thoughts go out to all who are still dealing with the aftermath. So thankful to be okay

ttfn.

Fall Faves

2012-10-21T07:54:00.001-07:00

Hi There!

A few weekends ago it was Canadian Thanksgiving. Since I am friends with a bunch of other Canadians in New York City, we had a dinner party. I assure you, it was so classy and very refined. The evening may or may not have ended with me in a food coma on the floor. Oopsies.

My contributions were pumpkin pie & butternut squash risotto.

Recipes:

- Butternut Squash Risotto: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/butternut-squash-risotto-2/

- Pumpkin Pie - http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/easy-pumpkin-pie/5793eb83-dca1-45e0-96e1-7f73af9e282f

The risotto took quite a while to prepare but ended up being okay. It was a little bland. Next time, I'll use more garlic & veggie broth.

I had never made pumpkin pie before and was totally surprised how easy it was. I'll definitely do this again at Christmas!

Yesterday BF and I walked around central park for the day. I was so shocked that the leaves still hadn't changed color. What the heck, right?

Whats your favorite fall dish? Are the leaves pretty colors where you live?

Something amazing...

2012-10-20T11:08:00.000-07:00

Dogs in Halloween costumes!

I saw these little guys while walking around in the East Village and immediately asked to take a picture. So cute:)

THE HULK

Summer Flashback

2012-10-04T13:16:00.001-07:00

Hi!

I have been a very bad blogger lately! I haven't posted anything in a long, long time.

Today I came home sick from work as I was feeling super nauseous and dizzy. The subway ride home was pretty brutal but now that I'm cozy and in my bed I'm not feeling as terrible. Yay!

Earlier this summer BF & I traveled to Grand Rapids, MI for my cousin's wedding.

Getting to GRR from NYC was really, really difficult. To make things as infuriating as possible for myself, I decided to make a mistake booking my plane ticket and didn't realize until the night before we were supposed to fly. When I originally 'booked', my ticket was about $200. The only tickets that were available the night before were about $600 and at 6am.

This meant that I would no longer be travelling there with my BF because he properly booked his ticket months earlier (like I thought I did). THEN icing on the cake - I somehow slept through my alarm and missed my 6am flight. I have never done that before and couldn't believe I missed a flight - on top of my inflated ticket price I had to pay a hefty change fee & was super late! Usually when I have something to get up early for, I wake up every hour on the hour before my alarm goes off. Craziness!

Anyhoo, despite the trouble we had getting there I actually did make it. Luckily, the town was very pretty and had a gorgeous beach + pier that BF and I walked along.

So pretty right? Who knew that Michigan had such nice beaches.

It seems like so long ago and this was only August. Does anyone else feel like September just never happened?

Well, I'm going to watch some Workaholics & try to fall asleep. Later :)

The vegetarian & the carnivore

2012-09-17T17:23:00.001-07:00

Hi!!!

I haven't written a post in a long time but I have been quite busy lately! I've had friends visiting from Canada, busy times at work and lots of social events to attend.

As some of you may know, I don't eat meat while my BF loves it. As a way to show him that I care about him, I love to make him healthy and homey dinners once in a while. Most of the time when we cook together, it ends up being fish or pizza or something else non-meaty.

I am still new to cooking chicken - since I will never eat it, I only prepare chicken when I'm cooking for someone else. That being said, you should know that I really hate chicken and everything about it, but I really find it interesting that it is so versatile.

To make a vegetarian meal for me and a chickentarian meal for BF, I picked up:

a couple of chicken breasts, tofu (mine) a jar of pureed basil, roma tomatoes, herb & garlic goat cheese, some quinoa and both green & yellow zucchini.

oh, and bud light :)

I put the goat cheese, tomatoes and basil inside the chicken & shoved it closed. Olive oil & more basil on top.

Like my pretty ring? I got it in Prague :)

I cooked this for about an hour in the oven and made the zucchini + quinoa on the stovetop.

BF's plate

my plate. note, goat cheese on zucchini is fantastic

This is my idea of compromise.

Today I got to go to the pilates class at lunchtime near my office & was so happy. I LOVE the instructor and felt soooo good after leaving. Tomorrow, I have signed up for a Soul Cycle class after work. I love Soul Cycle a lot - it kicks my ass.

This coming Wednesday is my company's annual client party and I bought a very tight dress. So obviously I've been cutting calories this week / last week at work and picking up my workouts as much as I have time to do. I'm talking Green Juice for lunch, gallons of water + spinach with beets for lunch, the odd Simplifast here n there. Your tips for slimming down quickly would be greatly appreciated ;)

I need to get to bed early! Night :)

Scallops a la Caitlin

2012-08-26T20:45:00.000-07:00

Hi!

I can't believe tomorrow is Monday! I feel like I need 2 more days before heading back to work.

Here is something I made BF and I for dinner a little while ago - I LOVE scallops and always forget how easy they are. To go with these, I made a garlicky white wine sauce, corn and green beans. Really good!

How to make this:

1) Rinse & pat the scallops dry. Sprinkle with salt.

2) In a small pan, heat olive oil & garlic over very high heat.

3) Carefully place scallops in the super hot pan. Make sure they don't touch!

4) Cook each scallop for 2 minutes or so and then flip them over. Resist temptation and don't move them before flipping or you wont get a crispy crust.

perfect!

5) Gently take the scallops out of the pan & keep the stovetop on, lowering the temperature to medium-low heat.
6) Add white wine, more garlic, a bit of butter, veggie broth, a bit of flour to thicken, lemon juice and garlic salt.

whisk in the pan scraping all the little burnt bits off of the bottom

7) Stir and pour over plated scallops.

BF's dinner

Super easy and yummy!

This weekend felt busy - lots of drinking and partying. I'm super duper exhausted and feel my are eyelids getting heavy! I'm off to bed now.

How was your weekend?

Ella Lounge NYC

2012-08-16T19:10:00.000-07:00

Ella's is a great place to go with friends. Live music, strong drinks and a jazzy atmosphere.

I went here to see my coworker's boyfriend play a show - had a great time! One of my new favorite places.

Tomorrow I am flying to Spring Lake, MI to attend my cousins wedding on Saturday. Surprisingly, flying there is more expensive than flying to Canada or California. Crazy right?

Should be fun! I get to see the fam and go to the beach. Can't wait!

Flaws & First Love

2012-08-14T20:15:00.000-07:00

I am a self admitted bad driver.

I get scared in the car when other people are driving (and always have).

That being said, when it became my turn to learn to drive, I was terrified. Not only did I get my license later than almost all of my friends but now that I'm living in New York I have no reason to EVER drive.

Even though I am a terrible, irresponsible and scary driver - I love to drive.

Since I got my license in very early 20s (in fact, I think I was 20 haha), I still get that rush of being free and getting to go wherever I want. Living in New York City doesn't allow me to keep a car - parking is way too expensive and I would crash into a taxi or a person or worse, a puppy.

In my last year of school, I was fortunate enough to be given a 1993 Mazda Miata from my aunt and uncle. They are very generous people and no longer needed the car but knew I needed one (and whats more, needed to learn how to properly drive).

I introduce to you, the best car ever....I named her Kelly Kapowski. I LOVE this car.

Driving around in this little 2 seater made me feel super cool.

The only problem when they gave me the car? I didn't know how to drive a standard car, let alone how to properly drive an automatic.

I feel like this car and I learned how to drive together!

We went on so many adventures (a lot of them irresponsible) and I just love this lady so much.

In fact, even though I moved to New York over 2 years ago and I have no use for this car at the time in my life, I REFUSE to sell it. It's a race car for girls! I love it too much.

Kelly Kapowski sits happily in my parents garage where it is taking up space. Is it a bit rude that I am taking up my parent's 1 car garage with my unused car? Yes, and I feel ultra guilty! BUT, I just can't bear the thought of someone else driving my car. It is mine and I want it waiting for me when I return to Canada / finished in New York which could be 1 year, 2 years even 3-4 years from now.

Well there you have it - my totally irrational and embarrassing obsession with my 1993 red car.

I hope I still know how to drive when I leave Manhattan!

After work tomorrow I am going to an event I bought tickets to on Gilt City. Here is the description:

General admission for one to Bliss Spa & Crunch Cel"AB"ration event with hosts Ashley Hebert & J.P. Rosenbaum from "The Bachelorette" on Wednesday August 15, 2012 from 7 - 10 PM at Crunch Gym• Five-day pass to Crunch• All drinks sponsored by Skinnygirl• Best Abs contest and Ab Brag photo booth• Mini treatments from Bliss Spa• Chats and tips from Crunch trainers• Pole-dancing and belly-dancing demonstrations• Dating tips from Wise Matchmaking

Should be fun - I am obsessed with The Bachelor / The Bachelorette!! I'll let you know how it goes!

Night.

Rockaway Beach

2012-08-13T18:10:00.001-07:00

Rockaway beach is just an easy subway ride from Manhattan. It's free, relatively clean and uncrowded - a nice little escape from the filthy heat!

Fun, right? I went here with a few girlfriends recently!

This weekend I am travelling to Spring Lake, MI for my cousin's wedding. BF and I are headed down a day early to check out the beach. Should be fun! I haven't seen my family in a while so I'm really looking forward to it.

The summer is just flying by - I can't believe it. Its like I just realized it was summer this week and its almost over.

Anyhoo - I must get ready for bed because I have to get to work early tomorrow!

Night!

Wrap Star

2012-08-01T19:49:00.001-07:00

Trader Joes is one of the greatest food stores I've ever found - below is by far the best product I've purchased there. If you have the chance, I think you should buy them too! So spicy, so awesome (I would even go as far as to say BONKERS), so versatile.

Get em.

Tomorrow is my company's summer party. We are going to a country club in NJ. The day will be full of team activities (oh joy), wine & cooking class, fun with friends and booze. Should be a nice day! I need to get a good nights sleep so I'm off.

Happy Weds :)

It's all good

2012-07-31T19:55:00.001-07:00

Hi There!!

Happy Tuesday (if there is such a thing)...

This week already seems very, very long - at 3pm both yesterday and today, the clock started to move at a glacial pace. You know how that thrills me. Extra points for you if you got that reference.

That being said, there is definitely good news this week:

I did pilates yesterday and yoga today. I hope to focus on cardio and the below activities for the rest of the week.
I discovered that I get 24 free channels by plugging a unnoticed cable in to my almost never used television. My life will be changed forever haha.
These newly discovered channels have allowed me to watch not only Bachelor Pad but the Olympics! There is such a HUGE difference between Olympic coverage here in the US compared to back home in Canada. Craziness! Observations:

I'm super into gymnastics right now! Teeny little people doing wild flips, spins, bounces and kicks = entertainment at its best.
Poor Michael Phelps has lost just a teensy bit of his mojo :( but he is still pretty rad

My aunt & uncle were here this past weekend and they took my to Costco while they were here (yes, in Harlem). That means that my freezer is stocked with scallops, salmon, halibut and coffee. That means my fridge is full of very cool cheese. That means that I have enough bottles of wine to last me at least until Sunday ;)
Thursday is my company's annual employee summer party. We are going to a country club in NJ. I've signed up for 2 activities: cooking class & wine tasting class. Should be a co-workertastic time.
Friday, BF and I are going to go see Mike Tyson on Broadway. Seriously. I'll let you know how it goes.

Since I have been bad at taking pictures lately, here are a few things that have been going on in my kitchen:

street cherries - $2/lb . Loves it.

leftover chili + salad

I'm off to bed. Night Night!

Jenna Lyons & Locanda Verde

2012-07-27T11:42:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday!

I took today off of work and have been enjoying every minute - particularly the sleeping until 10 part :)

This week, I went out for a friend's birthday at Locanda Verde. It is a gorgeous, very cool restaurant in Tribeca. The menu was amazing - we shared just about everything: 2 crostinis and 4 antipasti dishes. For my entree, I ordered the sea scallops (my fave!).

We started our meal with a bottle of Prosecco. Right after clinking our glasses, one of my friends noticed that Jenna Lyons (creative director / prez of J Crew) was in the restaurant. Such a cool celeb sighting. I wish I was brave enough to introduce myself! Gotta love New York :)

Check out what we ordered:

Sheep’s Milk Ricotta with sea salt and herbs - this was insane

complimentary foccacia bread for the table with pesto & tomato - soo good

blue crab crostini w/ jalapeno & tomato and the grilled octapus

Roasted Sea Scallops with spring peas, almond gazpacho and pancetta mostarda

I love restaurants in Tribeca because they're usually simple, clean and have more space than places in my neighborhood.

yes, i took a picture of the tap in the bathroom

If you're in the area and are feeling fancy, go!

This weekend, my aunt and uncle are visiting me from Toronto. I'm very excited to see them!

Since I will definitely be skipping the gym this weekend, I plan on taking a total body conditioning class later today. These classes kick my butt - I have a tough time doing strength training and will do more squats than I have all week BUT I can't deny the benefits of dropping it low! Here in the city, its about to thunderstorm. I hope it lightens up before I have to walk to the gym!

Have a good weekend!

Pot o Gold

2012-07-23T20:20:00.002-07:00

Hi!

Happy Monday! Last night I made a big pot of vegetarian chili for this week's work lunches.

What was in it?

pinto beans
chick peas
black beans
crushed tomatoes
marinara sauce
hot sauce (lots)
chili powder
garlic salt
salt & pepper
yellow onion
green peppers
orange peppers
corn kernels
olive oil
garlic

I threw it all in my giant-est pot for about 2 hours.

Et voila! It was really good!

This is a great way to spread your grocery money over a week! Summertime makes me a very broke girl (with all of the excessive going out and whatnot), therefore healthy, cheap meals are a must.

Yesterday I decided to take a Total Body Conditioning class but before leaving my apartment at 5:30, I decided to drink a little 5 hour energy. Big mistake! The whole class I was dizzy and had too much energyyyyyyyy. THEN I couldn't fall asleep until almost 2am. Blech never again. I felt like this:

If you've never watched this, you're welcome. Kenyans!

Anyhoo, I decided to take pilates at lunch today and it was fantastic. My whole body feels like it worked today. Tomorrow is Vinyasa yoga with my favorite teacher at NYSC. He's so cool :)

Have you tried taking energy drinks / supplements before a workout?

Do you make big batches to stretch out your $?

I'm off to bed. Nighty night!

Weekend fun

2012-07-22T21:27:00.000-07:00

This weekend felt way too fast!

On Friday, I went to The Delancy in the Lower East Side for a good friend's birthday party. I like this place because they have a very pretty rooftop BUT I found the crowd a bit too hipster-y for my liking, it was crowded, and the neighborhood is a bit sketchy (right by the Brooklyn bridge) Even with those flaws, I still had lots and lots of fun!

pretty palm trees :)

outside of the front door of the bar. see? sketchy

pretty

Today I went to the gym and took a Total Body Condition class. So tough. The instructor combined lots of cardio with what seemed like a bah-zillion squats. After the class I did 30 minutes on the elliptical to flush things out.

When I left the gym, I wandered into the grocery store because I had a craving for chocolate milk. I found something even better:

I can't wait to put in coffee tomorrow morning.

I can't believe tomorrow is Monday. I don't wannnna go!!!

How was your weekend?

Special Dinner

2012-07-19T19:38:00.001-07:00

Hi There!

As part BF’s birthday gift, I usually like to make him a special meal.
For him, a special meal = meat.

I haven’t eaten meat for about 10 years (not including fish). OBVIOUSLY when it comes to working with meat, I need as much help as I can get! I almost never use recipes, but for meat dishes I need instructions. Detailed instructions haha.
After countless Google searches and discussions with friends to try and find the perfect recipe, I decided on the below recipe I found on the Food Network website created by Ina Garten.

After researching Ina a bit more, I learned 2 things:

Ina likes butter
A lot of people like Ina

Based on this discovery, I decided to attempt the below recipe. The only difference I found between Ina’s recipe & reality was timing. Prep took way longer than 20 minutes and cooking time was almost 2 hours.

Perfect Roast Chicken (the title is really what sold me)

Source: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cda/recipe_print/0,1946,FOOD_9936_21404_RECIPE-PRINT-FULL-PAGE-FORMATTER,00.html

Prep Time:20 min

Cook Time:1 hr 30 min

Level: Intermediate

Ingredients

1 (5 to 6 pound) roasting chicken

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 large bunch fresh thyme, plus 20 sprigs ( forgot the extra 20 sprigs! Oops!)

1 lemon, halved

1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted

1 large yellow onion, thickly sliced

4 carrots cut into 2-inch chunks

1 bulb of fennel, tops removed, and cut into wedges

Olive oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pin feathers and pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of lemon, and all the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the onions, carrots, and fennel in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top.

Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes. Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve it with the vegetables.

The result? It looks pretty good! BF said he really liked it and got very excited about the whole process. I made rice and roasted potatoes on the side.

bfs plate. my plate <3

What did I learn? (please don’t take offense if you LOVE chicken but…)I hate chicken. I hate everything about it and I don’t understand how people can eat it after knowing what raw chicken looks / smells / feels like. On the other hand, the cool thing about chicken is that there are endless ways to cook it and it’s not that hard to prepare. BF sure seems to love it.

In other news, I had an amazing time at yoga today. I worked hard, fell over, got sweaty, laughed with a friend, got really deep into a binding triangle pose (even got my leg up in the air!!!!) and walked out feeling refreshed. The best kind of class.

Anyway, I’m off. Happy almost Friday!

Lucky Day

2012-07-16T19:55:00.004-07:00

I won free concert tickets to see the Counting Crows tomorrow night!

I couldn't even begin to count the number of times I sang Mr. Jones in a bar during university. What a great day!

I had a great weekend too. It consisted of a whole lot of this:

rooftop fun times with friends in the East Village

How was your weekend?

Lovely

2012-07-14T06:43:00.000-07:00

Happy Weekend!

Today is BF's bday and I'm VERY excited! He is such a catch - smart, handsome, funny, FUN, sweet, caring, altruistic, sensitive yet manly and my best friend :) I love spending his birthday with him. Okay, enough bragging haha.

I've been really into beets lately. My Tuesday night yoga instructor said that eating beets and celery regularly can relieve lower back tension. This may or may not be true but since I love beets, I'll believe it!

Here is an easy dinner salad I made this week:

- Italian balsamic vinegar

- New York tomatoes

- Chopped romaine lettuce

- Crumbled gorgonzola

- sliced red beets

- 2 pieces crushed garlic

my arm looks weird

note, spilled water all over my table

Jumbled up

Followed by fat free yogurt, cinnamon, sugar free canned cherries and honey I got in Prague!

Anyway, I'm headed out to go shopping for something cute to wear to BF's birthday party. Gotta impress the boy on his special day :)

Hope you're having a great weekend!!

Birthdays & Sushi

2012-07-12T19:46:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Happy almost Friday (thank god)!

The weather in New York was so perfect this week so sitting at my desk was extra challenging. Luckily today I was able to get out and walk along the Hudson River at lunchtime. This week I HARDLY did any cardio. My workouts this week:

Monday - mat based Pilates and a 30 minute walk
Tuesday - intense Vinyasa flow yoga
Wed - just a leisurely walk to BF's apartment from the office: about 30 minutes
Tonight - Total body conditioning at NYSC. This was the first TBC class I've ever taken that had a cardio aspect to it! I did burpees for the first time in a looong time
Tomorrow - planning to do spin at lunch!

This weekend is my BF's bday and I couldn't be more excited. He has decided to have a birthday boozy brunch on Saturday. He's just the best and I am the luckiest girl to have spent the majority of my time in the city with him. I love that he wants to do something so fun to celebrate.

I'm still not sure what to get him for a gift. Any ideas?

I've promised to cook him some type of chicken as part of his gift and I'm super nervous (for those of you who don't know, I do not eat meat except for fish). I would love any ideas for that as well! Last time I cooked him chicken, I used lemon, rosemary and garlic. Apparently it was good so here's hoping for a successful meal!

Speaking of successful meals, let's talk sushi. There is a place near my apartment called Hanabi. My neighborhood has a ZILLION sushi places and they're all awesome.

Hanabi is a bit different - the sushi is not spectacular, but its pretty darn good and reasonably priced for the Upper East Side. I find myself getting the same thing every time I go! I order:

- 'Sweet 16 Roll' - tempura shrimp, avocado, cucumber, carrot, topped with spicy lobster

- Spicy Salmon - my go to

- Steamed shrimp shumai - these little guys are so yummy. They're about the size of a quarter.

Check out their menu - http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/hanabi/

Looks good right? I might have to get some this weekend.

Other than BF's bday I'm not sure what I'm going to do. If the weather is nice, I will probably go to the public pool near my apartment to cool off.

Let me know if you have any bday gift or meal ideas!

Hope you have a great weekend.

A Coney Island Adventure

2012-07-08T22:26:00.001-07:00

My glorious roommate and I decided to take a trip to Coney Island to get out of the unbearable Manhattan heat.

It was a very cool place! Super retro with the old carnival rides and freak shows, famous Nathan's Hot Dogs where they host the annual hot dog eating contest (barf - veggie dog for me plz), a not too shabby beach (meaning cleanish, cold water and cool breezes), and a very long boardwalk! Originally, I had planned on venturing out on the E train all by myself and I'm definitely glad I brought a friend. It turned out to be a slightly sketchy borderline ghetto hood.

Overall, well worth the trip! I'm glad I got to see it at least once while I'm living here.

arriving off the subway! so happy we made it.

Nathan's hot dog - complete with countdown board

Roommate and I enjoyed Bud Light Limes, Snyders Honey & Onion Pretzels (the bestest) and strawberries I packed in my beach bag. Yum!

very cool

The weekend we were visiting was the 86th berf-day of the world famous Cyclone!

sideways pic because I felt pretty wacky afterwards

We had to try it out. For $8 per person, I had high hopes and boy oh boy were they met! This was the bounciest, bumpiest, most terrifying wooden roller coaster I've ever been on. After the wild ride, my legs were numb, I was sweating and could barely speak. All signs of a good time ;)

I love old wooden rides (blush) even more than the ones at Canada's Wonderland! For all you Americans out there - please educate yourself on one of my homeland's treasures - http://www.canadaswonderland.com/

Have you been to Coney Island? Do any crazy areas like this exist where you live?