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

Things I'm Loving Friday #4

Happy FriYay!!

Why do short weeks always feel infinitely longer than full weeks?

Raise your hand if you're ready for the weekend?

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This week has been a jam packed non-stop train ride of crazy!  Even my never-sit-down-run-around-all-active-crazy self is looking forward to the weekend and some chill time.

This weekend is pretty low-key, babysitting, some hang time with the girls, and running some errands.

BUUUUUUTTTTTT before the weekend comes Friday!  Here are the things that I am loving this week.

1.)  Amanda's Bachelorette Party Weekend! 

Can you guess where we're going?  

I'll give you some hints:

-Will Smith penned a tome about this great city

-Khloe and Kourtney opened a DASH here

-Don Johnson had a show called __ __ __ __ __ VICE

-They tried and failed with a Real Housewives franchise here

Can ya guess it?

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Welcome to Miami!  

Awwwww yeah!  

New bathing suits, big hats, and cute dresses here we come!  Amanda and Tony's bridal party are both going to Miami together...we're splitting up as soon as the plane lands!  I can't wait because who doesn't want to enjoy the sun, surf, and sand with your besties?  Count.  Me.  IN!

2.) TVLand's Teachers

OMG!  It's a total satire of everyday teacher life and I'm obsessed!  They say everything you as a teacher want to say, but can't!  The show follows the school lives of 6 fictional teachers and their classes navigating everyday school life and problems.  As you can imagine hilarity ensues as the writers explore real life teacher problems such as:  superintendent visits, picture day, and anti-bullying.  The best part of the show is how they call the students Alex B. or Jason P.  The teacher jargon (use quiet hands/make a good choice) kills me.  

The show is on Wednesdays at 10:30 on TVLand.  

Also, I'm no longer mad at TVLand for airing Full House and Everybody Loves Raymond reruns and calling it classic television #Imnotthatoldyetthankyouverymuch

Hello!  I watched them live...

3.)  Snow Days and 2 Hour Delays

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I love that phone call!  I get to sleep in, wake up at the same time and relish in the do-nothing-but-sit-around-time.  

2 hour delays are just as glorious...even if they do make the kiddos confused.  My kids couldn't understand why they were going to lunch after spending just one hour in school.  

4.)  Purple Sweet Potatoes

HOLY DELICIOUS!  I had about 4 this week and I can't.get.enough!  They're a delicious way to add some smart carbs to your meal...plus the purple color is GAWWWWJUSSS!  

5.)  Chana Masala

Whole Foods does it well!  I've had a slight obsession with this since I discovered it this summer.  I'm pretty sure it translates to Amazingly Delicious!  It's spicy heaven.

6.)  Juicer Is BAAAACK!!

It's been back for about a week and I'm loving having my daily juice again.  

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What have you all been loving lately?

Happy FriYAY!

e

Top 5

Happy Thursday!

How is everyone's week going?

Mine has been a little crazy due to meetings, snow days, and testing.

Since life has been a little helter-skelter, I decided to follow Julie's lead and do a Top 5 Post.

5 Places I'm Dying To Visit:

• Miami!  
• St. Louis-This summer!!
• Great Britain-Ello Govna!
• Greece (Blame it on The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants)
• Key West (I've heard they have chocolate covered key lime pie)

5 Foods I Eat Everyday:

• oatmeal
• blueberries
• peanut butter
• almond milk
• honey crisp apples

5 Talents I Wish I Had:

• singing (so so so bad)
• ART (anything!  I wish I could draw/paint/create.  I'm hopeless.  Sometimes I imagine how cute my classroom would be if I could draw, but then I end up Kim K ugly crying about how bad I am at art)
• Patience (patience is a talent and I do not possess that.  It physically pains me to wait)
• Lip Liner (Nope nope nope.  I always end up looking like a Walk of Shame)
• Train Times Reading (can't do it.  I've tried.  Thank you Google Maps for helping a sister out)

5 Things I Wear (Almost Every Day)

• Reebok sports bras  
• Reebok capris
• Asics 
• Under Armour socks
• Tory Burch flats/boots

BONUS!  Old, ugly, worn pink Ugg clogs.  I got them in 9th grade and have worn them everyday since.  They're now relegated to be strictly in the house slippers but I'll never part with them. 

5 Songs I Liste To On Repeat:

• TI and Rihanna Live Your Life
• Thomas Rhett Die a Happy Man 
• Thomas Rhett Get Me Some of That
• Ben E. King Stand By Me
• Garth Brooks Friends in Low Places 

5 Beauty Products I Use Everyday:

• Clinique Moisture Surge Moisturizer.  It's pricey but worth every penny
• Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Facial Wash
• Burt's Bees Wax lip balm
• Green Juice!  I swear by it to keep my skin looking healthy
• Neutrogena Beach Sunscreen

5 Movies I Can Watch on Repeat:

• Legally Blonde
• Elf
• Father of the Bride I and II
• Remember the Titans
• Dirty Dancing

5 Books I Am Reading/Want to Read

• The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell 
• Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling 
• Letters from John to Abigail by Abigail Adams
• Jacqueline Kennedy An Untold Story by Barbara Leaming
• Save the Date by Jen Doll

I hope you all enjoyed this crazy little combination of random info.  What are some of your favorite or top 5's?  

xoxo,

e 

Snow Daze

Happy Tuesday!

Raise a glass for it already being 1 day into the work week!

Does anyone else go stir crazy during snowstorms?  I can't sit still and therefore I start to get a little cabin fever after being cooped up for a day.  I know some people can binge watch Netflix for a weekend and be fine with it, but not me.  I need to move around.  P.S. SOOO happy they added Parks and Rec Season 7!  I came late to the P&R party, but I'm pumped to watch Season 7!

Snowpocalypse 2016 started on Friday around 9 and went until Saturday afternoon.  I was bored by Saturday at 7 am.

Friday night, Deb and I attended Grand Conversations.  Grand Conversations is a 2 Day PD workshop that our district offers in which educators are invited to screen a movie on Friday night and engage in a book discussion on Saturday mornings.  There are about 4-5 choices for both the movie and book.  This year I read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.  I would highly recommend this book to everyone and anyone.  It's a non-fiction text which links success to its many factors and links all of these successful outliers to events/people/times that are seemingly out of their control.  These factors all contributed to their successes and can't be overlooked.  It was a fascinating work and definitely made me think.

The theme this year was Honoring Educators.  I was on the panel that planned the event and I suggested watching Boy Meets World.  If you've never seen the show...I don't know if we can be friends anymore.  Anyway, one of the main characters is Mr. Feeny, a beloved teacher and next door neighbor to our hero Cory Matthews. Mr. Feeny ends up teaching Cory and Co. for the entire 7 seasons the show aired on ABC in the mid 90s to early 2000s.  Anyway, it passed through multiple rounds of debate and thus I was appointed "leader" of the BMW movie chat.  I picked 6 episodes from the seasons that highlight Mr. Feeny's impact on the lives of his students.  Pretty shweet gig considering BMW constantly floods my DVR.  See, Deb...I was working this summer when I spent copious hours glued to the TV rewatching a show I've seen 90,000,000 times.

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Registration began at 4 and I grabbed a bucket of popcorn, some candy, and water bottles for my viewers and headed to the designated classroom.  Luckily I had zero technical difficulties.  Then I sat and waited.  Waited/hoped people would show up.  It never crossed my mind that no one would pick my movie to view.  Finally at 4:30 I went to check to see if anyone had signed up replenish my candy stock and ran into Deb and a few other people who just so happened to be coming to BMW!  SCORE!  Not going to lie, I was getting nervous that it would be me and Deb (who would pity watch with me) viewing BMW.

We had 7 people!  The same as 3 of the other movies.  McFarland drew the biggest crowd.  Success!

We all watched the show, laughed, cried, and relived our 90s nostalgia.

After the movie we headed to the library for a yummy dinner from one of my favorite local restaurants.  If you're in the South Jersey area and have not had Vincenzo's you need to stop reading this and GO!  The best Italian food!  I rolled with a Greek salad and chicken and mushrooms.  I'm still dreaming about it :)

Since Jonas the Blizzard was on his way, we ended up nixing the movie discussions and someone from each group gave a 2 minute synopsis of the movie.  I was nominated from my group to give the synopsis.  I hate summarizing (can you tell I'm not a brevity does not befall me?) and ended up saying um and like wayyyyy more than I should have.  I also am proud of myself for not coming across as a total fangirl.


Friday night was spent cuddling up with my super hot boyfriend Chris Evans.  Just kidding, my dog.  Just kidding, these cookies!

recipe here

Giant almond meal cookies the size of my face...couldn't be happier.  Okay, maybe if Chris Evans was actually cuddled up with me whilst eating the cookies, I'd be happier :)

*Side note, I usually use 1.5 cups almond meal and 4 TBSP coconut oil because they tend to be too dry if I don't*

Cookies+Say Yes To The Dress Atlanta=perfect snowy night

Saturday was spent doing absolutely nothing.  I'm not going to lie, I was super salty about this Saturday snow storm.  Saturdays I like to spend all morning at the gym Zumbaing, Pilatesing, and Pouding.  Then, I go to Wegman's for some samples and grocery shopping.  Saturday I made fudge.  It was good, but wayyyyy too sweet.

To counter the sweetness I had some green salad.

1 Granny Smith apple

1 Cup Super Greens

sprinkle of pine nuts

goat cheese

dip of pear infused vinegar

At 10 pm I realized I had 958 Fitbit Steps so I did some half-assed Zumba.

I was in a sugar coma most of the day. Does anyone else feel like death by sugar after eating too much of the sweet stuff?  At 25 I should know when to say stop to the cookie binger.  Maybe at 26...

I don't like shoveling snow.  It's not the physical aspect of it, it's the coldness aspect of it.

I often times go back and forth with the idea of getting married. Having a house full of pink things, girlie decor, a DVR full of Real Housewives, Say Yes To The Dress, The Bachelor, and appropriately closed toilet seat covers really speak to me in a positive way. HOWEVER, when we get over 2 feet of snow and the idea of shoveling becomes a reality, I decide that yes, marriage is in the cards for me. Having someone shovel your snow is worth having one less pink picture frame. It's called compromise. I've heard that's essential to a marriage.

I am all for equality between the sexes, but I don't want to shovel.  I'll make him dinner/drinks/dessert if my future hubs promises to shovel us out.  I'm gonna put it in my vows.  You think I'm kidding?


Do you want to know what else is fun about snow daze?  When it's midnight and you're taking a shower and realize that you have NO HOT WATER!  Thanks Jonas!  I froze my little butt off in that shower.


After my Sunday gym session, I ended up having to shower at the gym.  Thank you RH&FC for not only being an amazing gym, but for having hot water :)

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Does anyone else feel totally awkward and out of sorts showering somewhere besides your own shower?  I never know how to work the shower head (consequently feeling like an idiot and giving myself a pep talk a la The Help:

Come on, Erin.  You are smart, you are kind, you are important.  You also have a freaking masters degree and should be able to work a stinking shower head!  Get it together girlfriend!  Also, all of the hooks were full of other people's shower supplies (seriously who leaves their shower supplies at the gym...on the shower caddy?) so I had to move a little bench over.  So.  Awkward.  Then there's the packing of shower supplies.  Oy vey.  I looked like a crazy bag lady walking into the gym today.  Also, I didn't want to pack my full sized shower supplies so I had to revert to the good ole fashioned travel extras leftover from my vacays this summer.  Apparently I only buy Bath and Body Works scents that make me smell exactly like an over-perfumed tween.  #lovely.  That stuff doesn't just dissipate over time, if anything it gets stronger.  Like Kelly Clarkson.  Or the plague.  I was a multi-scented perfume nightmare.


After my shower experience, I ventured to Target and Wegman's for the essentials.

Cait and I went to Farmicia for dinner.
Sunday I also spent making some Sunday sauce (in za Vitamix) with ground turkey.  I plan on pairing it with some sweet potato veghetti for din din Monday night.  I curled up with Real Housewives of Potomac and stared at all of the work I will have to do on Monday.  I also missed my 12,000 Fitbit steps by 2!  2!  I think it actually stopped working because I was at 11,998 for like 10 minutes.  I spent 3 minutes jumping just to try and win those 2 coveted steps, but alas, they didn't register.  Now I feel like a loser.  Is anyone else super competitive with their Fitbit?  I can't tell you how many times I spend wandering my house or watching Fitnessista Zumba videos on Youtube to try and hit my step goal.  If there are any other Fitbit freaks out there, I feel your (competitively neurotic) pain.


Monday.  Ahhhh, Monday.  The day to play catch up on all the laundry and schoolwork I put off.  Monday is also BACHELOR MONDAY!  Who do you all like?  I like Becca, both Ashelys, and JoJo.  My school is doing a Bachelor Pool and I can't wait to see who wins!

It's been a fun few snow daze, but I'm ready to get back to normal.  All of this sugar is killing me.  I know, I know, I could just not eat it all...but what fun is that?

XOXO,

e

*Fingers crossed that the kiddos aren't too cray cray this week*

Snow Day Fitness

Hi Everyone,

Raise your cookie crumb covered fingers in the air if you want to get out of the house, but are too cold/snowed in to leave your home?

This girl is raising all 10 fingers.


I'm a really active person by nature, but snow days make you feel so snuggly.  What is it about the white stuff that makes me go hard with the sweet stuff?  I made fudge (tooooooo sweet) and almond meal cookies (perfect).

I love a good snow day, full of hot cocoa, Netflix, and soup, but after a few days...

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Saturday night I realized that I had only taken 958 steps TOTAL!  Ummmmm, I usually take that many steps by 5:30 am.  I realized I needed some movement ASAP.

I have a few DVDs that are usually my bad weather go-tos, but today I was feeling something new.  My attention span diminishes once I'm cooped up inside 10 fold.

I decided to go through my Pinterest Fitness Board for some fitspo.  YouTube.  Always YouTube.  YouTube doesn't only house the best time suck videos, but they also house some pretty baller workout vids.  Blogilates, Fitnessista (obvi), Tone It Up, and Popsugar always pull through.

I decided to do this AHHHMAYZING Tabata leg workout.  Super schweaty and requires only dumbbells and a bench (or a desk chair if you're creative :))

Next, I decided to watch the Tone It Up Girls HIIT video.  These two are just adorable and I never feel like I'm dying or sweating to death because I just get caught up looking at the beautiful beach background.  Does anyone remember when they had a Bravo show called Toned Up?  Ugh, I miss that show.

I then was feeling a little off center and in need of some Pilates in my life.  I turned to my 2nd fave Pilates guru, Cassey Ho.  Did anyone else see her on the cover of Self this month?  She looked flawless.  It was kind of like seeing your super sweet, kick butt trainer best friend on the cover.  Love Cassey.  For those of you that don't know Blogilates, it is a YouTube based fitness channel that incorporates, pop songs with Pilates moves for quick, effective workouts.  She also has song challenges (think squatting for an entire song...legs quivering with love/hate the entire time), and longer classes that focus on a few exercises for a specific body region (think Muffin Top Massacre, Popstar Abs, long lean arms, etc.) and full length classes that target the whole body.  I did 30 minutes of abs.

I still hadn't fully shaken my snowy day sugar coma off, so I went work with the old standby, Fitnessista Zumba.  I did a few of her Fitnessista Zumba videos and then put on her Soli Beat DVD.

I didn't intend to spend all of this time working out, but I am glad that I did.  I needed to M-O-V-E.

What are some fitnessy things you enjoy when the white stuff comes to town?  I've heard shoveling is an amazing workout, but it's toooooooo cold for me.  Are you a winter sports enthusiast?  I'm not...again...toooooo cold.

Tell me what fitness YouTubers you like!  I always love switching it up :)

xo,

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:

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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