Springtime Snackage

Hi All,

Happy Tuesday!  How is everyone doing?  My week has been...interesting.  I have my new supercute Air Cast #tobeseensoonontherunwaysofmilanparislondonandnyc!  More on that to come!

Today we're talking about the deliciousness that is Springtime Snackage! I was inspired to put some fun ideas together by SkinnyPop, since one of my favorite snacks is popcorn!  I love it all!  Maybe it's my not so secret desire to be Olivia Pope, but I could eat that everyday/all day/any time!  One of my favorite things about popcorn is that it is so versatile.   Also, it's easy to carry around with me when I know I'm gonna be out all day!  I'm partial to a salty, sweet, crunchy person.  Here are a few of my favorite popcorn snacks!  Feel free to give them a try and let me know what you think!  Also, I'd love to hear some of your favorites!

**I use organic air popped popcorn**

1.) Popcorn and coconut oil!  I know coconut oil is super trendy right now, but trust me on this!
melt the coconut oil (as much as your taste dictates...I'm a 2 tsp coconut oil:1 bowl of popcorn kinda girl) and pour it on top of your popcorn.  To add a little extra fun, squeeze a tiny bit of lime on top!  It's like your on an island...not your couch!

2.) Popcorn and M&Ms! The classic!  This might be the best thing I learned in college!  There's no shame in my game, I ate this snack at LEAST 3 times a week.  The key is to put the M&Ms (I'm a more the merrier kinda girl when it comes to M&Ms) on right after the popcorn comes out of the microwave to ensure the M&Ms get all melty and gooey!  For an extra dash of savory, add a sprinkle of cinnamon!

3.) Popcorn and Cinnamon!  When I want something savory and fall like, I put cinnamon on top!  Easy peasy!

4.) Popcorn with Cocoa powder!  Similar to the Popcorn and Cinnamon scenario, I just sprinkle cacao or cocoa powder on top of my popcorn for a sweet, but calorie conscious snack!

5.) Popcorn and Sriracha!  So delicious!

6.)  Popcorn and Cholula!  Similar to the above popcorn, but a little spicier.

7.) The Holy Grail!  This is for one of those nights where you just know you're going full force on the snack attack bandwagon.  Like you are so far gone, and you just don't care!  Are you ready for this?  Are you sure?  Ok...

popcorn+melted peanut butter+melted chocolate chips+melted caramel+melted marshmallow!

Just go for it!  No need to measure :)


What are your favorite popcorn recipes??

xoxo,

e

Good Morning Baltimore

....y'all know I couldn't resist that <3


How are you?? I'm bueno!  I can't believe Spring Break went by as quickly as it did.

Raise your hand if you need one more day week!

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The good news is that only 8 more weeks until Summer Vacation!  

Anyway, back to the break.  This break was everything I needed.  Equal parts relaxing, hanging with friends, traveling, and chocolate.

A few weeks ago, one of my friends and I decided that we needed to get away over spring break.  Nothing crazy or far, just away.  We decided on Baltimore because it's far enough but can still be done in a day.  We found a hotel on Groupon (best.ever.) and headed down on Wednesday morning.  We didn't really have a plan (shocking for Little Miss Type A) but we knew we wanted ice cream, crab cakes, and brunch.  Not necessarily in that order, but that's what we wanted :)

First came crab cakes.  Can you really qualify it as a trip to Baltimore without crab cakes?  I don't think so.  We headed to Luna Del Sea for crab cakes.  They were $20 a cake (kinda expensive) but they were 98% crab!  Seriously, I cut into the crab cake and it fell apart because it was all crab.  The restaurant was empty...we were the only ones in it...and it kinda had a speakeasy vibe to it. The seats were black leather and the walls were a maroon red.  A little Fifty Shades meets HGTV, but you know...

Crabby cakes as big as our heads

  

I did my research (and we're back as a Type A-er) on the best ice cream in the city and found a place called The Charmery.  It is in the Hampdon neighborhood of Baltimore and a 3.5 mile trek from our hotel.  We came *this close* to walking there, but realized it crossed a major highway.  High fives for us participating in the ancient art of reading a map!  We drove over there and after 9 attempts to back in a spot (in my defense, it was a slanted and curved spot) we were on our way to get ice cream!  This place is really cool!  They make unique flavors, like buttered popcorn, and offer a vegan option every day.  

I rolled with 1 scoop of the Brown Butter Peanut Butter Cup and one scoop of the  Maryland Mud Pie with homemade hot fudge.  

Still drooling

Twas a great decision.  These scoops weren't wimpy little 120 calorie scoops either.  No no.  These were Erin sized ice cream scoops!  About the size of a softball.  Aly got a scoop of Green Apple Tequila ice cream.  I sampled it and it was delicious!  You could taste the tequila, but it wasn't overpowering.  

Yes the spoons change colors

After ice cream heaven, we went back to the hotel to get ready to go out.  We took a power nap and watched Friends, before heading out.  The hotel had really good lighting aka Silly Photo Shoot happened.

We don't do normal photos

Baltimore gets an A++++ for food, but a C- for Nightlife.  We realize it was a Wednesday, but there were no people out! I'm talking ZERO!  We went to happy hour and only passed 4 people on our 8 block stroll!  FOUR PEOPLE between 5-6 pm?  We chalked it up to being from NJ and the high concentration of people...but really?  There were 11 people at the first place we walked into.  Mind you, the Orioles game was starting in 5 minutes.  In NJ or Philly, places are packed and they have drink specials that go along with the games.  NADA.  We walked over to a place like Xfinity Live and guess what?  IT wasn't even open!  It's only open Thurs-Sunday!  WHAT?  We walked over to a place behind Camden Yards called Pickles Pub.  We were pleasantly surprised to find life.  We started watching the baseball game, but it was quickly changed to ALL HOCKEY!  All 7 TVs were now playing the same hockey game.  BUZZKILL.  The Orioles were in Cincy, but really?  Every TV has to be on hockey?  

The redeeming factor?  

Crabby Fries the MD way

We're still true to our Philly roots, but these crabby fries were face rocking!  Picture fries, covered in crab dip, covered in cheese, covered in Old Bay seasoning.  Now add a side of ranch dressing for dipping.  Plus, a few hidden pickles!  What?  DELISH!  

After this masterpiece of deliciousness, we headed back to the hotel.  We had plans to go karaokeing, but alas, we fell asleep.  

When we woke up the next morning, we knew what we wanted...BRUNCH!

We headed out to Miss Shirley's.  It was about a 20 minute wait on a Thursday at 11 am.  I decided to continue eating like a Frat Boy and ordered Buckwheat banana chocolate chip pancakes and a strawberry lemonade.

As good as they look...I ate 3.5 pancakes

Puply perfection

Aly got the strawberry pancakes.  We high fives over out good decision making skills.

After the food coma that was brunch, we headed to the aquarium to see the fishies.  

We saw a really cool shark that looks like bathroom tile.  He just hangs around until other fish try to eat his "coral" camouflage and then he eats them up.  

We came across a fish with RBF!  

RBF fish

We then came across the tropical rainforest.  I saw this sign...

Cacao...Food of the Gods
aka Chocolate gives you super powers

After the aquarium, we headed home.  It was a great trip and definitely what we needed.  

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend and enjoying what is left of Spring Break 2017!

xoxo,

e

 

Easter Weekend 2017

Happy Monday!!!

It's oxymoron day over here...or is it?  It's Spring Break Central, so I guess that qualifies as a Happy Monday!  Also, waking up at 10:45, eating some Gertrude Hawk Baseball Smidgens, and catching up on Designated Survivor (so.GOOD.) and then running to the gym to teach HIIT and do some upper body and Zumba does actually qualify as a Happy Monday!

How was everyone's Easter?

Insert caption about sibling Easter pics

This was our second Easter in NJ.  We used to go to PA to visit my Grammy for Easter, but after she died, we had one Easter in NJ.  After that, Dylan went to JMU and we went to visit him in VA.  Easter dinner was often had in Buffalo Wild Wings or Texas Roadhouse!   For our second NJ Easter, we headed to Cafe Madison for dinner.  So so so yummy!  We all had lobster bisque for an appetizer.  I had salmon with pureed tomatoes and fennel.  For dessert I had a flourless chocolate cake and half of Deb's cheesecake.  Can you tell I missed dessert for 40 days?

Key Lime Martini for me, grapefruit martini for Deb, coke for dad, and Mexican martini for Dylan

Cheesecake...I only ate 1/2 :)

 I had a friend filled weekend and that is exactly how I like it.  FriYAY started out earrrrrly.  I taught Spin from 5:30-6:15 am then I stayed to do some upper body work.  I came home, showered, ate the best breakfast ever and then headed to tutor.  The library was closed for Good Friday (bad Catholic over here didn't even think it would be closed) so I took my student to Starbucks where we sipped apple juices and crushed fractions.  After that I got my mani and then Deb and I headed to King of Prussia Mall for some Lilly Pulitzer and sneaker needs.

2 traffic filled hours later, we arrived.  After we got our Lilly and sneaker spoils, we headed to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner.  They have a SANGRIA FLIGHT!  THIS IS NOT A DRILL!  IT'S REAL LIFE!

3 oz each of Beehive Sangria, Red-Berry Sangria, and Orchard Sangria

Can we just make this a world wide thing?  Like the kale or quinoa movement of 2017?

After a long day of shopping (I think I'm getting old because I needed a nap after that mall trip), I came home and fell asleep.  Like at 8:30.  

Saturday was spent gymming it up.  Deb took my spin class!!  Then we did weights and Pilates.  I went food shopping and then got ready for dinner.  The best dinner.  OF.ALL.SUSHI.TIME.

Cait and I went to Oishii Poke in Philly for dinner.  A few weeks ago, Dylan went to this place for lunch.  When he got home he was raving about it and I snuck a sample.  It rocked my face off.  

This place is like a Pancheros but for sushi.  Everything is very fresh and clean.  You can get a sushi salad bowl, sushi burrito (basically uncut sushi) or a sushi bowl.  I opted for the bowl.  I got brown rice, raw salmon, boiled shrimp, lettuce, seaweed salad, spicy aioli, broccoli, cucumber, corn, mango, carrots, seaweed salad, crab salad, tobiko, and sesame seeds.  It was amazing!  The portions are generous, but not overwhelming.  It was also $9!  You can't get a sushi roll for $9!  I capped it off with a bottle of Watermelon Bai.  Insanely good!

Demolished in 3 minutes!

I hope you all had a great weekend and enjoyed your egg hunts, egg rolls, egg dyeing, and chocolate!  This Spring Break is shaping up to be a good one and it's only Monday!

XOXO,

e

Weekend ReCap

Happy Monday!

To my Jewish friends out there, Happy New Year's!!  I'm off today and I slept in until...drum roll please...10!  It was delicious!

Is it bad that now I kinda feel guilty about sleeping in?  I'm sure I'll get over it as soon as I fire up the laminator and begin looking around for work for the week.

My weekend was super busy!  The best kind if you ask me :)

Friday night I started working out with my trainer.  I decided to hire a trainer because I kinda feel like I'm in a fitness rut.  I feel like my routine is becoming, well, routine.  After a month of not running, I decided that I needed to switch up some things to spice up my workout.  I LOVED all of the new things my trainer showed me.  My trainer and I happen to be gym friends and when he asked me what I wanted, I told him anything that wasn't usual/typical/something I already do.  Basically I gave him free reign to go crazy!  He did and it was so so so fun!  I can't wait to see what he's going to torture me with next.

Friday night I met up with Kate for dinner at...you guessed it...Seasons 52!  I am loving that they still have the Grapefruit Negroni (160 calories to boot)!  It's still as spicy/tangy/and subtly sweet as can be.  They also have pumpkin pie dessert shooters!  SWOON!  Pumpkin anything+Girl Talk=Best. Nights. Ever!

Saturday started as it usually does, gym marathon!  Zumba+TBB+Pilates!  It was super fun!  I'm not subbing TBB anymore, and it's fun to be in someone else's class.

After gymstravaganza, I hit up Wegman's for Sample Saturday!  It's dorky how much I love this place...and my samples!  Also-I only ran into one parent when I was sweaty and double fisting it with juice samples!

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Saturday night, Cait and I went to Cape May to watch her boss' band play at Carney's.  It was so so so much fun!  We met up with her friend Jackee and Jackee's boyfriend, Andrew.

We've never met a dance floor we didn't love!

The two second dance break we took to get our pic on

Carney's also has delicious sweet potato fries...if you're wondering :)

We also made friends with a party granny.  Why do you become friends with Party Granny? Because she might have a cute grandson.  

Sunday started unGodly early with a 5k for Jake's Place.  Jake's Place is a foundation to build accessible playgrounds for kids.  This was my first race since my Achilles Tendinitis.  I ran it in 21:12 and came in second in my age group.

It was so fun to be running again!

Almost across the finish line

After the 5k, I went on a six mile run to keep up with my trainer schedule.  After 9 miles painfree I was so excited!  I'm back baby!

**Fun note** My dad kept saying, Erin you are doing a great job!  Especially since you just got done with rehab.  Yup, we're going with rehab instead of physical therapy.  People stared.  I live in a very small town...let the gossip begin!

After my run I went to get my nails done.  When I saw the OPI color called, Maralga Wine, I knew I had to have it.

Sunday night was...epic/delicious/amazing/sweet.  Any adjective will work here!  Cait and I went to Heaven aka The Melting Pot.  They were having a Back the Blue fundraiser.  It's $34 for 4 courses (cheese fondue/salad/dinner/dessert) and they donate proceeds to a town of your choosing's first responders.  Eat chocolate and drink martinis for charity?  We can do that!

Back the Blue Martini?  Yes please!

While you don't get to pick your dinner, you do get to pick the broth (we went with Croq au Vin)!

You do get 3 shrimp, 3 pieces of steak, 3 pieces of chicken, and 2 raviolis.  Veggies are also served!  

Dessert was Cookies and Cream Fondue!  We thought that meant white chocolate wit Oreo's mixed in.  We were surprised to find out that it was actually dark chocolate with marshmallow and Oreo's mixed in.  After this game changer, we needed a time out to think over our decision.  We opted to *customize* our order.  We take our chocolate very seriously!  We ordered Ying/Yang with milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate with the cookies and marshmallow mixed in.  

We always knew we were smarties!

I came home and went right to sleep!  In bed by 10 and asleep until 10 the next day?!  What a great day! 

Today is filled with catching up on the DVR, gymming, and getting things ready for work this week.  

Happy Monday!

xoxo,

E

What I Ate Wednesday

Happy Hump Day!

How is the mid week treating everyone?  Things are bueno over here, just getting some last minute things ready before vacay.  In 3 days I'll be laying on a lounge chair on RCL Anthem of the Seas.

Thank God the heat wave has broken...I was melting and sweltering all last week.

So today's post is coming as a request!  Love them and keep them coming!  The question I get asked a lot is what do I eat?  Every day I keep it pretty simple.  I mostly live by the motto if I can't pronounce it, I can't eat it.  For example, if I can't pronounce the ingredients (and I teach syllabication for a living lol) I won't eat it.  This falls into my #1 and #2 food shopping rules:

1.)  Shop the outside of the supermarket and avoid the aisles.  All of the good-for-you-foods are on the exterior of the supermarket.  The protein, veggies, fruit, and nut milks are on the outside of the supermarket.  The only things I buy from the inside aisles are: chocolate chips (I'm only human lol), vanilla, cinnamon, and apple sauce (organic and unsweetened).

2.)  Read Your Labels!  There should be no added sugar in anything you buy!  Sugar has lots of secret names such as fructose, sucrose, glucose, corn syrup, syrup, etc.  If you're buying tomato sauce it should have tomatoes as the ingredients.  If there are a bunch of other ingredients put it back and walk away!  Glen Muir makes a great tomato sauce with no added junk.

Ok so back to what I eat every day.

I also follow the food rule of breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper.  That means have your biggest meal when you wake up, a moderate meal (calorie-wise) for lunch and your smallest meal for dinner.  I eat every 3 hours and have about 5-6 small meals a day.  I'm not a dietitian, but I'll share what has worked for me.

Breakfast-

If I'm running (Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday/Friday) I'll have a baked breakfast cookie as a pre-workout.  Then when I return I'll have 1 cup unsweetened organic almond milk, 1/2 cup old fashioned oats (not packets...those have wayyyyyy too much sugar), a tsp of vanilla, and a tbsp of cinnamon.  I'll add in 1.5 cups of blueberries.  Then I'll add in a spoonful of organic natural peanut butter (make sure the only ingredient is peanuts!).

I'll also drink 32 ounces of water every day to help me feel full.

Mid-morning snack-

14 baby carrots and a tbsp of harissa.

Lunch-

Grilled chicken with veggies (peppers, broccoli, cucumber, tomato) and then I'll add in a cup of low sugar fruit like blackberries or raspberries.  I'm also loving plumcots.

Afternoon Snack-

Homemade green juice.  Nature's Red Bull!  I juice super greens, a green apple, 3 sticks of celery, 2 big carrots, a thumb sized piece of ginger, 2 lemons, and half a cucumber.  So so so good!

Dinner-

Stir Fry is my favorite dinner!  I'll sauté shrimp, zucchini, cauli-rice, and yellow squash in coconut oil.  I'll then make some quinoa and add it all together.  I'll also add a little red pepper flakes, garlic, and Italian seasoning.  Once I've drained the excess oil from the finished product I'll mix in a tbsp of harissa.  Delish!

If I don't stir fry, I'll do steamed veggies and chicken or salmon.  I usually grill all the meat on Sunday nights and then freeze it so I can easily access it during the week.

Greek Salad is another fave in my dinner rotation.  I add in cuke, Jersey tomatoes, kalamata olives, goat cheese, and a red onion over romaine and spinach mixture.  I drizzle a little tzatziki over top and it's done!  Easy peasy!

Zuke boats are another favorite!  Halve a zucchini and scrape out the middle.  Add the middle mixture to a bowl of cooked ground chicken or turkey, chopped spinach, goat cheese, chopped onion, chopped tomato, and then stuff the zuke with the mixture.  Drizzle a little balsamic on top and boom you're done!

Cheats and Desserts-


Cheat meals or as I like to call them rewards meals are usually enjoyed after one of my exercise heavy days such as Sunday (long runs) or Tuesdays/Thursdays when I've done a run, lifted weights, Pilates, and Barre.  More calories exerted=More calories needed!  Ice cream has a lot of calories so I think that makes logical sense right?  Maybe?  ;)


Ok, I'm a huge believer that you get a cheat day (or 2...a week)!  Once a week I let myself have an ice-cream.  I get the large swirl custard with cookie dough pieces in it.  I regret nothing because I've worked hard the whole week.  This also keeps me accountable and makes it easier to turn down the donuts or M&Ms in the office at work.

Also, a lot of recipes can be made healthier by substituting coconut oil for butter, maple syrup or honey for sugar, whole grain flour or almond meal for white flour.  Substituting dark chocolate for milk chocolate also helps a wee bit, but hey, every little bit counts!

Alcohol-

My signature drink when out is a shot of tequila with seltzer and a slice or lime.  So good and at 90 cals it won't mess up your whole clean eating week.

Another drink I love is to order a shot of vodka, seltzer, and then bring your own Crystal Light lemonade/pink lemonade packet.  100 calories and it tastes just like the vodka lemonades that can easily clock in at 200+ cals and an insane amount of sugar.

I hope you enjoyed this post!  Remember, what we eat is a personal choice and fuel your body with nutritious foods that make you feel good.  If fries make you feel good, have a few not the whole thing!  This is the hardest thing for me.  If a bowl of M&Ms are in front of me, you can bet that I'm going to eat that whole bowl.  I never buy M&Ms because I know they'll be gone.  I'm not good at moderation, so I need to just not have them in the house!

Enjoy the rest of the day!  What are some of the things you are loving to eat now?  I'm loving healthy fresh produce!  Grilled peaches are my new fave!  They're sweet and full of nutrients.  Plus they're only around for a few months so they're like a little treat that won't ruin your hard work.

xoxo,

e

Valentine's Day Weekend

Happy Oxymoron Day!

Hopefully you are enjoying all of the benefits of a 3 Day Weekend:

• sleeping in
• doing nothing
• watching Netflix
• eating healthy, yummy, takes a while to make breakfast :)

I'm doing 2/4 of these things.  I'm eating my fave breakfast (oats, almond milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and blueberries sans Whole Foods organic peanut butter) 

Is it bad that I'm counting down the days until Lent is over because I miss PEANUT BUTTER MORE THAN SWEETS!? 

Yup you read that right, this sweet tooth is missing her pb more than chocolate/candy/sweets/cake/brownies etc.  

I've also noticed that without pb in my oats I'm STARRRRVING by 8 am.  

Anyway, back to the weekend recap...this isn't a post dedicated to my love of peanut butter...

This weekend was a great one!  It was crazy/hectic/busy/full!  

This was a 4.5 day work week-4 days of work .5 days of professional development.  Since it was a short week, the weekend technically started on Thursday night with a Scandal viewing party.

Life Advice!!

Friday was PD.  Confession time:  I still get lost EVERY SINGLE TIME we have PD in the high school.  Most of our PD is held in my district's high school and I still can't navigate the building.  I swear the stairs change like Hogwarts. 

Friday was a half day, which usually means that the rest of my afternoon will be crazy busy!  This one followed suit.  We were done at 1, but I went back to school to get some work done.  After that I ran to pick up movie tickets for The Choice and then I headed to the gym.  After the gym I had to go pick up my usual Friday salad from Seasons 52.  I had to get the Sesame Salmon salad because it's a Friday in Lent.  Don't worry BBQ Chicken Salad no seeds sub goat cheese, we'll be reunited in April!     

Deb and I went to see The Choice on Friday night.  It was all the things Nicholas Sparks movies should be: romantic, tragic, set in NC, and have row boats.  

Saturday was spent with a gymstravaganza then grocery shopping blitz followed by babysitting.  I was finished babysitting by 5:15 so I went to Whole Foods for dinner (Here's looking at you Chana Masala and vegan chicken salad) and laminated my booty off.  I watched Madoff and was just mehhh.  I liked it, but I wasn't hooked.  

Sunday aka Valentine's Day, I was supposed to take a barre class with a friend, but I couldn't find the studio.  Womp Womp.  I went home, headed to mass, and then ran errands.  

Attention Teachers:  BareMinerals give a discount!  Who KNEW?!

I know I'll instantly regret buying these buzzers for my class

Why do I bring Daddio with me?  

I made Valentine's Day dinner after a super schweaty gym session.  I made baked eggplant part goat gouda with brussel sprouts.  

Before 

After

Vegetarian Valentine's Day for the WIN!!

Recipe:

1 eggplant sliced to your preference  (throw away ends)

1 28 oz. Glen Muir fire roasted tomatoes  

4 cloves of gahhhlic (unless you don't like it gahhhlicky than use 2)

Italian seasoning, rosemary, and oregano to taste

2 TBSP whole grain bread crumbs

6 oz. goat gouda sliced/cut/grated (whatever makes your heart happy)

4 TBSP EVOO

1 bag frozen spinach

Slice eggplant into your personal thickness preference 

blend tomatoes, garlic, and seasoning until smooth (I used the pulse 5 setting on my Vitamix)

Combine EVOO and seasonings in a bowl.  

Brush mixture on both sides of eggplant slices and place in bottom of baking pan

Add one layer of sauce and half of the spinach

Repeat eggplant brushing and add another layer of eggplant/spinach

Cut/chop/grate the cheese and put that on top of the eggplant/spinach

Sprinkle whole grain bread crumbs on top

Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.

Brussel Sprouts:

Place sprouts in a bread pan

Cover with EVOO, Balsamic vinegar, garlic, and seasonings to taste

Stir with a fork until coating is even

Bake at 400 for 45 minutes

I hope you all had a blast on Valentine's Day!  

I spent it watching The Bachelor At 20 and drinking some Menage Trois Silk.  It's a red blend and I highly recommend it!  I'm not a red girl AT ALL...but I loved it! 

How beautiful did Jade look?  OMG she's beautiful.  Tanner looked so cute, too!  Ever since 27 Dresses,  I always look at the groom when the bride walks in because I want to see his reaction.  It was so sweet.  I melted a little bit...okay a lotta bit.  It was so good to see all of The Bachelor alums.  I feel like I've been there since the beginning and I have to ride out this crazy roller coaster until I die.  

P.S. Ashley I...Jared still doesn't love you.  I'm sorry, honey, but it's true.  

Love and Hugs,

E

Weekend Recap

Hey Y'all!

Happy OXYMORON DAY!  aka Happy Monday...

Did everyone have a good Super Bowl Sunday?  I thought the game and commercials were kinda meh this year.  I liked Ryanville, though.  I would live there :)

Half-Time was pretty good.  I'm not a huge Coldplay fan so I was pretty much just waiting for Queen B to come to the field.  She killed it like always.  I was kinda sad that Bruno didn't jam out to Crazy In Love.  But a girl can dream right?

The famsquad and I kinda hung low at our house for the game.  I made a daaaalish pulled chicken recipe:

1 pound organic chicken breast (cut into chunks)
1 jar Wegman's Sesame and Garlic sauce
10 hours in the CrockPot

It tasted like healthy sesame garlic wings!

After 10 hours the chicken cut like buttah so I just pulled it apart with a fork and tossed it over some broccoli.  Twas yummy and much healthier than wings just saying.

This weekend was a whirlwind!  I think that when I become superintendent I will make a mandatory 2 hour delayed opening the day after the Super Bowl...because let's admit it, we all need some extra zzzz's.

Friday was fabulous because my school hosted it's annual Souper Bowl.  Souper Bowl means that all of the staff members bring in either a soup, bread, or dessert.  Everyone goes crazy over the smorgasbord of heavenly treats.  We get to sample the soups in muffin tins and then dive into my favorite thing...DESSERT ISLAND!

Bread Mountain 

All Za Soups

I sampled chicken tortilla sans tortilla, Tuscan bean and chicken, stuffed pepper soup made by madre, and turkey chili.  All were delicious and I left in the biggest soup coma ever.  I made brownies and they were a big hit.  I'm always nervous when I make a "healthy" version of a classic that people will not want to eat them.  I was wrong.  They were happily devoured.

My brownies are the ones on the red and white plate

Friday night was a chill night for me.  After a gym sesh I headed to Seasons 52 and received quite the treat when they comped my salad.  Shout out to Mandy!  They said that since they frequently mess up the salad (it's not their fault, I like to customize my greens:)) and since I go every weekend, they wanted this one to be on the house.  How could I argue??

Saturday Sweat Fest was followed by a rushed food shopping trip and a marathon cookie baking session.  Since I give up sweets, alcohol, and peanut butter for Lent, I was packing in my cookies and baking and treats before Wednesday...yeah, we'll stick to that instead of saying my raging sweet tooth was back in full force.

Saturday night I spent the evening with Zach and his family.  Zach was back for a weekend (YAY) and we celebrated the best way we know how!  Dinner at Grand Lux (Zach kindly texted that they had Erin Approved Salads) and Dolly Parton's 9-5

Zach's dog all dressed up for Dolly! AKA animal print, tulle, and hot pink :)

.  I rolled with the beautiful beets and goat cheese salad.  I also sampled an Asian Nacho.  YES!  All the YES!  Imagine wontons with peanut sauce and wasabi!

Almost too pretty to eat...almost

Zach knows I'm a HUGE Dolly Parton fan and asked if I wanted to accompany him and his family.  I quickly agreed!  The show was amazing and full of Dolly songs and style.  She even made a cameo (ok it was a hologram but any Dolly showing is better than no Dolly showing amiright?) at the beginning of the show and at the end.   I just love her.

Before the show in the front row

Sunday was spent meal prepping for the week--Hello lettuce wrapped chicken tacos!  Lonchi will be a fiesta this week.

Double Crockin' It

Then, Kate and I met up for lunch at Season 52 (twice in a weekend!  **High Fives Self**)  Got the usual and then we wandered around and ran errands.  Errands are always more fun with your bestie.  When I got home I finished my errands and prepped lunch for Monday.


Monday is my favorite day because it's BACHELOR MONDAY!!  I'm Team Lauren B, Lauren H, Becca (even though I don't think they have a lot of chemistry) and Team JoJo!  I think Bachelor really stepped up their game in the girls department this season.  I like most of the girls and have a hard time picking just one to root for.

One more giant pb oats breakfast before Lent starts.

I swear there really are oats...if you look carefully you can see them :)

I hope everyone else had an awesome weekend.  I have a 4.5 day week this week and I am in desperate need of that catch up day.

XOXO,

E

So It's Been A While...

Happy Monday!

Well, I guess I haven't blogged since...September 16th?  Ahh, September.  Warm weather, baseball games, and pool lounging.  I miss you.

January is...nice...too.

After Jonas came in and dropped 2+ feet on us here in NJ, it's officially our first SNOW DAY!

*insert hand clap for Snow Days*

Actually, it went a little more like this:

source

Cait and I went to Farmicia in Philly for Restaurant Week.
We ordered the most delicious food in the world and then...at 7:30 pm the glorious text message came in!


"YES!!!  WOO HOOOOOO!!  SNOW DAY!"

Does anyone else hear the choir of angels sing when they get the Snow Day Text?

Yup.  I screamed in a restaurant.  Then I did a little dance.  People stared.  People judged.  People were obviously jealous :)

Back to Farmicia!

After being cooped up for 2 days due to Snowpocalypse 2016, Cait and I were itching to get out of the house.

I've been dying to try Farmicia since I read about it on Julie's blog a few years back.  When I saw it on the list for this year's Restaurant Week, I jumped on the reservation train and booked it.

The snow definitely impacted RW because there were 3 other tables of people and this restaurant books up FAST!  Even for a regular weekend it's hard to get a table.

Neither of us could decide what to order.  We've been poring over the menu for weeks now in preparation, but everything looked too delicious to pass up.  We decided to go splitsies to maximize our choices.  Full menu can be found here.

We of course rolled with champagne cocktails to start.

Grace Kelly for me and Cloud 9 for Cait

Next, we went with roasted brussel sprouts.  We totally fangirled over these.  Weird?  Don't knock it til you try it.  They had pomegranate and dijon.  Hoooomygoodness.  FaceRocked!!

Next, a wonderful man brought around bread.  A bread man.  What a great thing to have at a restaurant.  I ordered the multigrain and Cait got the rosemary.  (When he came back we both eagerly jumped for seconds) I like this idea because often times I find myself uncontrollably eating the bread, even though I'm not a huge bread girl, just because it's there.  This way it was an easy way to avoid the extra 4 slices that I usually end up eating.

I rolled with the shrimp, spinach, capers and garlic aioli.  I could have eaten 1,000 of them and not been bored.

For the main course, Cait ordered the Roasted Eggplant Cannelloni.  I ordered the Blackened St. Peter's Fish.  'Twas daaalish.

For dessert we ordered Creme Brûlée and a Flourless Chocolate Torte with Esperesso ice cream.

Demolished.

**Notice the apple centerpiece**  We wanted to eat it, but we figured that would be bad form.

We both got the cardigan memo

We also made friends with a lovely couple who enjoyed dishing about Real Housewives (is anyone else watching RHOP and loving it like me?), The Bachelor, and SNL.  One of them even ended up working at the same place as Cait.  Small World!

We both left dinner saying the same thing, "We'll be back."  When you will pay full price for a meal, you know it must be good.  Now the tough part begins...what will we order??

I would highly recommend this restaurant.  It's a delicious place located in Old City.  It has a fun, casual vibe with plenty of options.  Perfect for a Girls' Nite or a date night.


For more info:  http://farmiciarestaurant.com

XOXO,

E

Friendaversary

Happy Thursday :)

I hope everyone is enjoying their day so far.

This am I went for a quick 5 mile run and guess what?  Fall's a coming!  It was only about 65 degrees this am!  I walked out in a tank and shorts and almost turned right around to put on a long sleeved tee.

I'm secretly so excited for fall.  I have so many fun things on my fall bucket list and I can't wait to attack it!

Fall tea at Wegman's!

Yesterday was an awesome day!  My classroom is slowly but surely coming together.

The Hot Mess that is setting up your room

Getting There

Pre-construction Writing Island

Finished product…kinda

Yesterday was also awesome because it was Ra and my 6 year Friendaversary!  We met during Welcome Week at TCNJ and have been best friends since.

Freshmen babies!
Friday Exploring

I thought I was super cool in my Aeropostale fur hooded vest, BTW.

Ra and I lived together for 2/4 years at college and the other 2 years we practically lived together because we were always together.  She introduced me to The Office and I introduced her to the wonderful world of reality television--fair trade, no?  

Some of my best college memories involve our talks until 2 am, midnight drives to WaWa because we craved it, and playing pranks on our neighbors.  College definitely would not have been half as much fun without her.  

Last night we decided to meet up and celebrate our Friendaversary!  

Any guesses where we celebrated?

Beach sunsets are like no other

 We also saw ginormous seagulls and their babies aka the cutest things ever

Jersey Girls love our beach!

Perfect photo lighting

What doesn't scream 6 Year Friendaversary quite like a sunset beach picnic of vegetarian food followed by a sunset stroll at the shoreline?

We ended up going to Living on the Veg in Beach Haven.  I had never been before, but I'm always down for a good vegetarian meal.  I was not disappointed!  It was quite possibly one of the top 10 things I've ever eaten.  

Hooray for veggie food!

Ra's Mexicali salad and my corn and bean salad.

Chickenless salad sandwich with Vegan Mayo

Vegan brownie

I woke up dreaming about this meal.


Happy 6 Year Friendaversary, Ra!  Here's to a bajillion more!

Tonight is going to be a fab night because not only is it Pilates and barre, but it's a Thursday Girls' Day!  

XOXO,

E