Monthly Archives: August 2010

Healthy Saturday

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Happy Saturday!

Today has been a chill day. Mostly I have run errands and done reading for school. Soon I am going out on my long run. As some of you may have gleaned, my training runs have been a but jumbled up this past week. I realized yesterday that I have to do my long run today because Sunday is going to be busy. Because Saturday is long run day, yesterday became a rest day. Although, I must say that my arms are still sore from pole dancing class! I plan to go again. It is an amazing arm workout which is just what I need!

This morning while reading I enjoyed a cup of coffee in my new mug…

Obviously it was with a side of peanut butter toast. I’m probably going to have another before I go out on my run.

My stomach was grumbling around 1 so I made a healthy lunch at home.

Sandwich, pita chips, poulet, chocolate chips, and black iced tea.

The sandwich was farmer’s market inspired:

Ezekiel bread with hummus, radish, spinach, heirloom tomato (!), and turkey. I love an heirloom. It makes it so, so delicious and fresh.

Supplemental food:

I love a side of chocolate chips with lunch. It satisfies my chocolate craving every time.

In other news:

I recently joined the website healthylivingblogs.com. Here is a little bit about the site:

Healthy Living Blogs is a new resource for the health blogging community. Created by Lindsey of Sound Eats, HLB is a site designed to enhance the positive community of the healthy living blog world. Bloggers and readers can explore the site and find more blogs to love, bloggers in their area, and forums to deepen healthy discussion and support. If you’re interested in having your site listed on HLB, simply send the following information to healthylivingblogs@gmail.com and check the site out for yourself!

  • Email subject line: MEMBERS

  • Your name (please share if you prefer to go by first name, first and last, or however you prefer to be known on the Internet)

  • Blog Name

  • Blog URL (please start with http://, not www.)

  • Your twitter handle, if applicable

  • Your location (if you prefer not to disclose this information for privacy’s sake, that is completely understandable. We’ll simply include your blog listing in the A-Z listing, not by location, too)

  • Any specific labels (i.e. vegan, gluten-free, weight loss, running, etc.)

I love the healthy living blog community and I am so excited to be part of the community. The healthy blog community is awesome and so supportive of my running, weight loss and is a fantastic resource if you want to learn more about having a healthy lifestyle. The best part of healthylivingblogs.com is that they inventory blogs by location. I really want to connect with other LA area healthy living and food bloggers. So feel free to check out the site!

Return to the Crow

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Last night Catie, Emily, Leanna, Leanna’s boyfriend Adam, and I returned to the Thirsty Crow in Silver Lake. We went to the Thirsty Crow in July to celebrate Emily’s birthday. Last time we were there we had a great time so we decided to go back yesterday night.

We started off the night with a round of their signature drink, The Thirty Crow.

The drink is a mix of citrus, whiskey, bitters and ginger beer. I’ve had so much whiskey the past few weeks. Who am I?!

I had a sip of this drink the last time we went to the bar. This time the drink seemed much more ginger-ey which is good because I love ginger. Its one of my favorite flavors. I really liked this drink and I would recommend it. Honestly if I were to go back I would probably try their mint julep because they have a killer cocktail list.

After a considerable effort we managed to wrangle a booth for the night. Leanna is a master booth wrangler. She literally stormed the booth!

Hey girls.

The crowd at Thirsty Crow last night wasn’t as fun as the last time we went but its still a great bar and I imagine we will be back. I got home at a reasonable hour because school is in session meaning I actually have to work on the weekends. I miss the summer already!

How are you spending your weekend?

And now for something different

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new year….

new do….

Readers know that I rarely do things that are impulsive. Generally I weight pros and cons.

But it’s 2L, I’m a year older, I lost 21 lbs. It was time for a change and I’ve never shied away from a change. You know the Emma Watson pixie cut? Yeah, I had it 8 years ago.

As you were…

Smoked Salmon Pizza at Cheebo

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Last night after my first class there were only three things I wanted…

1. Dinner out with a friend. Thus, Jill and I met at Cheebo‘s. I went there once before with Jill and Carolyn and I remember really liking it. They have awesome pizzas and wine. The decor is really cool. The walls are orange and there are all kinds of cool window and mirror frames hanging on the walls. The ceilings are high. Its a great funky little place.

2. I wanted wine. First day of school always should require a glass of wine. Obviously I opted for Pinot Noir.

3. Pizza! There are so many great options at Cheebo. I really wanted to try something different and delicious sounding. Smoked Salmon pizza with capers! Obviously it was delicious. I really like the crust at Cheebo. Its soft but you can tell the ingredients are of higher quality than Domino’s (don’t even get me started on THAT)

Very delicious! Like a bagel and lox but with pizza! I loved this pizza and would recommend it. Sure, its not Chicago deep dish but its pretty good for pizza outside of the Chi.  I also like Cheebo because I always have leftovers which I enjoyed today at lunch.

So that’s what you need to survive a first day back at law school: dinner with a friend, wine, and pizza!   Tonight I’m trying a little something different, stripper lessons complete with pole (sorry mom and dad). I hope to improve my upper body strength.

Packed to Go

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In honor of the first day of school, here is the lunch I packed.

I decided to have a healthy start to the new year with a spinach salad with cucumber, radish, red onion, pine nuts, prosciutto, and goat cheese. I packed it in my new salad Tupperware! There is a separate compartment for my dressing. I choose my old standby, balsamic vinegar.

Yum. It hit the spot. I supplemented with pita chips and a z bar.

I love the first week of school because I’m not burned out yet. I ran home by way of Starbucks, immediately sat down and did reading for tomorrow and then went to dinner with Jill, post coming tomorrow because I’m tired and need to tune out.

Last Day of My Summer Vacation

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Like the title says, today was my last day of summer vacation. And you know what? I did basically nothing. I prepped for class, cleaned, ran some errands and watched portions of both “Mona Lisa Smile” and “Cocktail”. I enjoyed the last day where it is appropriate for me to be lazy.

Backing up to yesterday… there is nothing to blog because I didn’t eat. I was too queasy and I had no appetite at all. I ate literally a piece of toast. Not blog worthy at all.

I did, however, run into Barack…

I knew it was him the moment I was the presidential helicopters. I saw them when I was visiting in Chicago with Steve earlier this summer. People were angry because Wilshire and basically the entire west side of LA was shut down but I just chilled out and enjoyed the view…

Change I can believe in. 🙂

Today I finally regained my appetite around lunch so I made a super healthy lunch at home. Its been a while between having visitors and being sick yesterday so I was very happy to have a wholesome lunch at home.

Lunch was pita chips, a Honey Crisp apple, TJ’s fruit flakes, and a prosciutto sandwich with spinach, goat cheese, and arugula. To drink I had Pelligrino.

Toasted Ezekiel bread with my favorite lunch meat (haha, does prosciutto count as a lunch meat?) is totally to die for. Ezekiel bread is so filling and amazing.

I also braved fruit for the first time. First Honey Crisp apples of the season! It was amazing and so miniature. I cannot wait for fall. This lunch kept me satisfied all day and powered me though my first run in 1 week. I think I needed a long run break. Obviously I wasn’t going to run yesterday because I wasn’t consuming any calories. Today’s 4.1 mile run was done at a pretty fast clip and felt amazing. So glad to be back. I forgot how running helps be deal with stress.

Speaking of fall, school starts tomorrow and after reading Caitlin’s post about time management I wanted to break down my time management a bit. I tend to be a pretty good time manager with a good life-work balance but I thought that it would be a sound idea to go over my priorities a bit.

Step 1: There is limited time in the week, 168 exactly and I need a minimum of 56 hours to sleep.

Step 2: List your priorities. These are necessary and non necessary…

  • Going to class, prepping for class, things related to school things
  • Sleeping
  • Sticking to Half Marathon Training Plan (working out, running etc)
  • Cooking, eating, blogging, reading other blogs
  • Being a good fur mama to Izzy Cat
  • Catching up with friends both over phone and/or gchat and socializing in person
  • Running errands
  • Down time to read and watch some TV
  • Personal time to stress management and take care of my mental health

Step 3: Identify priorities you can downgrade or drop completely.

In terms or what I can downgrade, I think I need to make sure that my TV relaxation time does not spiral into endless hours of TV enjoyment. I love my TV, but sometimes it can go from 30 mins of Barefoot to Barefoot + Rachel Maddow + E! News + Daily 10 and before you know it I’m watching Flipping Out and Rachel Zoe Project. I swear I’m intelligent I just love TV a lot. So I should keep an eye on that. I also want to make sure that I spend enough time blogging to be happy and maintaining the blog and cooking wholesome meals. While I would love to devote all my time to working out and blogging I need to make sure I don’t let it take over my life.

Step 4: Get organized and use a calander

Done and done. I have my Hermes planner which I write school assignments and day to day things. I also use a wall calender which has less detail and is more of a broad view. I also take care of priorities like free reading right before I go to bed for 30 mins, and I normally have set shows that I watch certain nights of the week. Also, I have all of my workouts planned- and I’ve been pretty good about being flexible so far. Plus, running and mental health stuff makes blends together for me.

I think its really important to write out my priorities and set written goals for achieving them successfully. Writing it down means actually thinking it out and, in my opinion, makes the changes more likely to stick. I will be vigilant about my TV time and make sure that I stay happy and focused this semester.

What are your priorities?

Tavern in Brentwood

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As the grand finale of my birthday weekend my family plus Catie and Joe headed out to Tavern in Brentwood. I have been wanting to try Tavern for months and it did not disappoint. This was likely the best meal I have had in LA thus far. Get excited people.

Hey everyone, its my birthday! Thanks to Joe for the image.

Side note: I was under the weather on my birthday because I had a stomach bug the night before. All I ate all day was a small amount of water and 3/4 of a plain bagel. Let me tell you, I focused all my energy on being able to consume this meal and it was totally worth it.

First, may I comment on the space, because it is awesome. There is a sandwich, cheese, bread and treat area at the front of the restaurant which I will be frequenting in the future (or at the end of the meal). Then there is an awesome bar with great modern arm chairs. The bar is dark and low key. A great place to get a fantastic cocktail and relax. The dining room its self is light and airy. Basically it is like a conservatory. When we arrived it was light outside but as the night went on the room darken which was really cool. The light was spectacular throughout the evening. It would be an awesome place for a party (like a wedding reception). Also, the light makes for great pictures!

Source

Of course I started with a glass of prosecco to celebrate my 23rd birthday!

Cheers!

I decided to start with tomato tart with eggplant, saffron onions, goat cheese and tapanade. I knew I had to order it when I read the menu and Catie and I both sighed, “MMM Goat Cheese”.

Words cannot express. The olives and the tomato were very flavorful but were well balanced by the sweetness of the onions. I mean, it had goat cheese. The crust was flaky and amazing. I would like another please.

Catie ordered roasted peaches with prosciutto and I had to snap a pic. Look how pretty:

Salty meat with a roast fruit and cheese? I love the flavor combos.

For my entree I asked for a recommendation from the  waitress. She said that the Devil’s Chicken is fantastic so that is what I ordered.

There were braised leeks, onion, potato, and mustard breadcrumbs.

The chicken was so moist and delicious. It literally can apart the moment I stuck my fork into it! The flavors were rich and delicious. I was only able to eat half since I was still queasy but it was incredible.  The mustard was flavorful and melted into the chicken and the leeks and the potato. It was insane. The braised leeks added a great flavor and the potatoes soaked up all the other flavors and they were reflected against the potatoes. Does that make sense?

Catie had halibut and, once again, I couldn’t resist snapping a shot:

Couscous with the best looking piece of fish I have ever seen.

For dessert I started with decaf coffee of course.

And for dessert the girls split warm plum clafoutis with poured almond cream.It had a candle in it and I blew it out and made a wish. It was a really good one, too 🙂

Dessert:

The dessert was thick and creamy and had delicious plums! I love me some plums. I had a small portion since it was the end of the meal and I was trying to keep the food consumption to a minimum.

My portion with the addition of almond creme. The almond cream was excellent. Cream on  the plums was a wonderful idea.

I was also intrigued by dessert that young David ordered.

It is basically a peach sherbet with bourbon whipped cream and mint.   Can’t you see how excited he was about it?

Overall, the meal at Tavern was exceptional. I loved the way that they matched the flavors within the dishes. I also thought that the ambiance was superb. This is the best meal that I have had in LA thus far and I will be back at least to grab a sandwich from time to time. Go to Tavern. It is my FAVORITE in LA.

Biscuits for Breakfast

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The day before my birthday I had the breakfast I have been craving since Jenna posted about biscuits.  Of course I got my fix at Clementine.

Of course I devoured the delicious biscuit with white gold honey and topped with preserves.

Yum. So wonderful. White gold honey might be my new favorite thing ever.

I also grabbed a shot of my Dad’s egg sandwich which is a buttermilk biscuit with a poached egg, cheddar cheese and country ham.

So much biscuit-y goodness to be had! I always love a Clementine breakfast.

Birthday Cake

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There was a great deal of treat eating this weekend. While I didn’t have an actual birthday cake, my mother and I made sure we hit Susie Cake’s (my favorite LA bakery) for cake!

I could salivate. Oh wait, I did. We decided to try their famous carrot cake and the tropical cake! I had the marble cake recently. You can read about it here.

First up is Carrot Cake. It is as good as they say! The cake is spicy, with the carrots and some nuts, and the filling has a praline layer. Words cannot even describe how good a praline layer in the carrot cake is. The frosting was light and reminiscent of cream cheese, without the heaviness. Overall, it was heavenly.

Next up was the tropical. I love a coconut cake. So light and delicious. It was truly tropical. I can always go for Susie Cakes. Any day or night.

Gladstone’s

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Post hike we went to Gladstones in Malibu, which is like an LA institution. It is noted, mostly for the view.

I mean, who cares what the meal tastes like, right?

Then menu was what you would expect, tons of seafood. I was mostly excited about the raw bar. Its the New Englander in me, but I love a raw bar.

Ta da:

Oyster’s are always amazing and I haven’t had them since I left Boston. Far, far too long. They are clean and fresh. There were West Coast oysters which I suppose are different from East Coast oysters since they are from different coasts. I can’t tell the difference but I haven’t had a side by side comparison.

Soon the meal arrived:

As far as sides go, these were pretty good. The chips were warm (!) and the coleslaw was good, not too “slaw-ey”.

For an entree I had seared ahi tuna sandwich:

I love ahi tuna. This sandwich was good but not great. It had a flavorful Cajun rub which was only ok but the avocado was delicious. It would have been great with toasted bread.This whole sandwich would have been stellar if placed over a salad.

Overall, go to Gladstones for the warm chips, view, and raw bar. The prices were pretty high for the sandwich so I’d say go for the raw bar and the view.