We all know that I love me some running.

Running has been a major source of fulfillment for me in the past 16 months. It relieves my stress, reminds me to enjoy the world around me and keeps my body fit. The races I’ve completed in the past year are a major source of pride for me. From 5k to half marathon, I was born run 🙂

Of course I am jumping at the opportunity to participate in She Runs LA!

Share the Fun, Share the Passion, Share the Run! Join us for She Runs LA: Powered by Nike +.

She Runs LA: Powered by Nike +, kicks of the first ever digital, all women’s race in Los Angeles. On April 27 at 4:00 pm, women all over LA are invited to run to complete a 10K (6.2 miles) within 24 hours and sync their run on nikeplus.com using a Nike+ device (IPhone, ITouch, Nike SportsBand).  This run is like no other; women all over LA can choose their own location and invite their friends to join the run and the fun!

Afterwards, Nike is throwing a full on Hollywood red carpet bash to celebrate all participants’ 6.2 mile run in style, at the NOKIA Theater in downtown LA on April 28 at 7:00 pm.  Nike has pulled out all the stops for a night of show-stopping fun; Red carpet, live musical performances, celebrity and Nike athlete appearances and more.

A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Students Run LA, a non-profit organization, whose mission is to increase access to the sport of running for underserved youth across LA Unified School District.

Below are all the details:

– Register for She Runs LA event at signmeup.com/sherunsla and find out more at www.sherunsla.com. Registration fees are $35 for high school and college ID holders, and $40 for the general public.

– Run a 10K and sync on nikeplus.com between 4PM on 4/27 and 4PM on 4/28. Celebration event to follow on 4/28 at 7PM in downtown L.A.

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The best part is that part of the proceeds are going to be donated to LAUSD (Los Angeles public schools). This makes me so happy as I have a passion for studying equal public education and organizing around public schools. 🙂

Who else is in?

Have you ever participated in a bribery brunch? I have, routinely. The bribery brunch is when you have work to do and you know that, without bribing yourself with brunch, it won’t get done. When I was in college I was always in Trident over the weekend, eating pancakes and doing homework. This was the inception of the bribery brunch. I’ve engaged in a lower scale version of the bribery bunch since I’ve been in law school but yesterday I had a massive case to read and I decided it was necessary to engage in an old school bribery bunch.

At 8:30 am (hence why I won’t work if I’m home), I headed over to Tavern. Despite being uber popular the Larder at Tavern is never too crazy. Especially early, I was able to get a nice table, with light streaming in the window. Perfect working conditions!

Delicious iced tea with a sprig of mint + liberal refills!

I decided to order something different yesterday. I stuck with a bribery brunch classic: pancakes.

So tasty and 100% fueled my productivity. The pancakes were plain but so tasty. The actual cake had a butter aftertaste. Um, delicious.

I also couldn’t resist adding some protein on the side…

Maybe not the healthiest protein but hey, it was delicious!

I got a ton of work done this weekend and was able to just unwind a bit. I also got a ton of errands done, like getting my oil changed. I also had a very healthy weekend. I ran 10 miles and went to two yoga classes. All I can say is HOLY ABS. I will be the first to admit that my core strength isn’t all that but I got pushed Friday in yoga and yesterday we did hundreds of bicycle crunches. I also managed to get my feet off the wall in headstand which I was pretty proud of. I’ve been working on inversions since January and finally having the strength to get my feet off the wall and hold it was a pretty exciting accomplishment! I love Sunday night yoga class. I always leave feeling so much gratitude.

Do you bribe yourself with food?

Today I went on my first double digit run since November! That last run that was double digits was the Malibu Half back in November. I walked/ran 10 miles this afternoon and it felt pretty good.

But why was it a walk run?

Because on Thursday I discovered a blood blister on my right foot. Yep, I’m at the point where I develop them and don’t even realize that I have them. Its like under a callus which totally sci fi. In addition, while my platers in my left foot is clearing up (two weeks with minimal pain hell yes!) I want to take it slow on the long runs so as not to re aggravate it.  I still have two months until San Diego and plenty of time to get my runners legs back.

I also took the week of spring break off. First, it was raining and I was having such a good time with LCCMom that I didn’t take time to run. I need to ease back into running (I only ran 5 miles in the school week). Hopefully next week I can up my weekly mileage a bit more.

All I could think about while I was running was a Chipotle Burrito and I managed to hobble to my car and drive the half mile to Chipotle. They’ve started posting calorie counts at Chipotle which is moderately frightening. I always plug my order into the Chipotle Calculator before I got. My normal order is a veggie burrito with lettuce, guac, peppers and onions, rice, tomatoes and I decided to go wild tonight and get cheese. It rounded out to 700 calories which is more than I typically consume for dinner but I ran 10 miles so I needed to refill my tank.

Tonight I am working out outlining for Professional Responsibility and resting my body. Between a strength yoga class yesterday awakening my abs in a way I didn’t know they could be awoken, 10 miles today and tomorrows yoga class I need to rest my body a bit.

Right now, yoga is my favorite form of cross training. How do you cross train? I really like spinning classes too!

Yes. You read the title of this post correctly. It’s a bacon pasta recipe from cooking light! It may not be “healthy” but it’s “calorie light” (at around 350 a serving). Yes. You read that correctly, and you can thank me later.

I found this gem in a back issue of Cooking Light that I found while cleaning my kitchen in anticipation of LCCMom’s arrival. There are only 5 ingredients and the ingredients are bathed in bacon grease. Yum.

Ingredients:

1 clove of garlic, chopped

1 cup brown pasta (for some reason, CL never calls for brown pasta and I wonder why)

1 hand full of broccolini (spelling? Ya’ll know what I mean right?)

1/2 can garbanzo beans

2 stripes of bacon

Instructions

Cook the pasta in salted water until al dente. While the pasta is cooking, take your bacon and cook it up in a pan until crispy.

While the bacon is cooking rinse off the garbanzos and chop the broccolini. Once the pasta is about half done, toss in the broccolini to the pasta water and let it cook. When the pasta is done cooking, drain it, and separate it from the pasta.

Once the bacon is done cooking, remove just the bacon, pat off with a paper towel and crumble.

In the bacon grease pan add the garlic and garbanzos.

Let them absorb the grease a little bit and then add the broch.

Then, once the ingredients have absorbed the grease (like three mins) add the pasta and combine to serve.

I have made this more than once in the past two weeks and it was delicious. The garbanzos added some much needed protein to this pasta dish. It is no secret that I eat a lot of pasta but I need more protein in my diet and garbanzos are becoming my favorite quick and easy way to get it. I was also worried about dish not having a sauce but hey, when your pasta is coated in “bacon leavings” do you really need sauce? Uh, no. Finally, broccolini has been ALL OVER the FM the past few weeks and so obvi I decided it was time to snap some up. The quality of this broccolini was undeniable. Fresh produce really is the only way to go in my mind!

What are you all up to this weekend? I have a solid amount of work to do for school. We’re already heading into finals prep time. Can you believe it? I feel like the semester just started. I also have running and yoga plans 🙂

I have to confess that I was lazy pants the last few days of break. LCCMom and I shopped more (outlets), saw a play at the Geffen Playhouse (it was ah-mazing but closed last week), and ate more treats.

Some treats were familiar.

Celebration cake and coconut cake from Susie Cakes. What can I say that I haven’t already been said about Susie Cakes? It was fantastic! We actually popped in for Susie Cakes and ended up eating it for dinner! It was filling and very rich and sweet but we did a good job of pacing, chasing with water and not eating too much. LCCMom suggesting cake for dinner = why I love LCCMom. She explains me.

Other treats were new (to us)!

LCCMom and I finally tried Sweet Rose Creamery. I have intended to try Sweet Rose for a long time but you know how it is with ice cream… I know once I have one I’ll want 12. We sampled salted caramel and goat cheese, fig and walnut. Both were FANTASTIC artisanal ice creams. The salted caramel was a little bit smoky which was different. It wasn’t too salty which was nice. The goat cheese was super creamy and the fig and nut complimented it well. Sweet Rose changes their selections from time to time depending on the season and the freshest ingredients they receive (LOVE THIS). If I saw the goat cheese again I would totes jump on it but for a pint to take home I would probably get the salted caramel because it was pretty tasty. Overall Sweet Cream was a win and I expect many more outings in the summer.

So this is it for Spring Break updates. LCCMom left last Saturday. We had a great time shopping, seeing shows, chatting, going to Clementine, Farmstand, RFD, Susie Cakes, and Tavern, and seeing my Uncle. The last weekend of break was devoted to writing my big paper (which was due on Tuesday- so glad that it’s behind me). Overall, it was a restful break!

If you had a week off, what would you do?

1. M Café
2. Bouchon
3. The Counter
4. Rustic Canyon
5. Ketchup
6. Jar
7. Fig
8. A.O.C
9. Gratitude Café
10. Scoops Westside
11. Mendocino Farms
12. Wally’s Cheese Box
13. Tar Pit
14. Katsuya
15. Lemonade
16. The Bazaar
17. Locques
18. BLD
19. Tart
20. Animal
21. Street

Because sometimes this girl needs to take a break from a draining day to daydream about tasty food…

What restaurants did I miss? What should I add to the list? I am always open to suggestions!

I still have more Spring Break updating to do. LCCMom left on Saturday and I’ve been working away ever since. I also ran 7.5 miles (fueling with 8 days of cup cake eating is a poor choice, FYI –> felt like I was going to puke the entire time) and went to a FANTASTIC yoga class Sunday night. I love yoga so much right now! My arms were dying today and it felt great.

The rest of this post is about body image and weight loss. If you might find this triggering, I suggest  you stop reading.

Over spring break I spent copious amounts of hours in various fitting rooms. I’ve said that I am going to stop posting about weight loss, but I feel like there might be value in posting what happens after weight loss. I am very happy with my body right now. I feel physically very strong and generally well fueled. Plus I still eat cup cakes. I’m still in the mode of replacing my wardrobe (from a size 8/10 to a size 4).

With that being said, here are some fitting room observations from last week:

• Just because I’ve lost weight, that doesn’t mean every style will flatter me. For example, I loved a flowy dress in the Calypso store. Unstructured dresses have never been “my style” but the subtly emerging California hippie girl in me has always wanted them to be. New flash: they still aren’t my style. Also, just because you’ve lost weight doesn’t mean everything will fit you. In my head I always thought someone that was a 4 would look good in everything. This is so not true at all, I can promise. Belted waists for life for this girl.
• If you didn’t like a body part before weight loss, you aren’t necessarily going to like it any more after weight loss. Getting smaller won’t change your mental perception. You have to love yourself to love your body. Its all about internal attitude change. I had to remind myself more than once that an item not fitting my hips wasn’t a problem with ME, it was a problem with THE CLOTHING.
• Just because you’ve lost weight, that doesn’t mean your body proportions will change. My hips are ALWAYS going to be x amount wider than my waist. I might be rocking a size 4 jean, but I still wear curvy cut. My hips don’t lie. And it’s all good because women are supposed to be hippy. It’s how we’re made.
• Jeans that fit are the greatest thing ever. Instant self esteem boost. Also, Gap jeans have gotten much better in the past few years. I was very happily surprised. While I love me some J Crew I may just have become a Gap convert.
• Getting a good bra fitting was the best idea ever! I haven’t had a proper fitting since I was in high school. I went to Victoria’s Secret and they measured me to be a D. If  you’ve ever met me or seen a picture of me you know that this is highly comical. I had a vague idea of where I was but I was shocked at my size (32C in strapless? You could have knocked me over with a feather) and how much better I felt about myself once I was in the proper size. Seriously, Oprah didn’t lie, every women in America needs a GOOD bra fitting.
• I still haven’t bought a new Bikini. It needs to happen but I think I am going to raid the J Crew swim section. I was reminded while trying on an unsupported string top that string tops aren’t a viable option for me (or a comfortable one!)

I had several new acquisitions over the week which will be presented here on the blog including a bridesmaids dress! Stay tuned!

On Tuesday of Spring break my mother and I decided to go to a weekly food truck gathering on Main Street in Santa Monica. Did you know that every Tuesday night 8 or so trucks gather at the California History Museum? I didn’t either until LCCMom spied the sign advertising the event. It’s an amazing set up and there will FOR SURE be a blogger meet up or friend meet up of some kind there in the future. The trucks come, and then after you get your food, you are allowed to sit on the patio of The Victorian next door and enjoy happy hour wine! Or you can bring a blanket and hang out on the grass. I absolutely intend to take FULL advantage this summer!

Some of the usual suspects were there…

And a new one to try…

We started with a few dishes from trucks I know are good. This was LCCMom’s first time eating off of a food truck so I eased her in with dishes I knew would be great!

Thai Chicken from Clean Street Food. I knew that Clean Street would be a good first food truck dish. The food is good and healthy. I’ve had this before and like everything from Clean Street, it was flavorful and fantastic.

Potato spiral from, where else, the kabob truck. When we saw this spiral cut potato deep fried on a stick our eyes lit up immediately. We had to have it. It was salty and like a big french fry potato stick.

We also had a Frankie from India Jones, which I didn’t manage to take a picture of. Whoops. Bad blogger. Look at this picture from several months ago. It was just as good as I remembered.

We also got an “Irish car bomb cupcake” from the Clean Street food truck. They work with a cupcake business in LA that caters.

Again, we know that I know my way around an Irish Car Bomb. This was good. I couldn’t really taste all of the alcohols distinctly, but it was tasty and I had no problem finishing it. We also enjoyed a nice glass of Malbec each…. because we are wine twins.

LCCMom and I decided that we still wanted something more. And then this glorious thing happened…

LOBSTA TRUCK!!

I got a lobster roll, with butter and if I have to explain why I ordered with butter and not mayo then we can’t be friends anymore. Just kidding. Not really. The lobster came on a fantastic New England style roll which was buttered and toasted.

It was like the Vineyard. I was transported back to summer afternoons walking the streets of Edgartown, browsing for books, eating Scoops ginger ice cream and the smell of sea air.

And then it got even better.

I grew up eating Cape Cod chips and of course I had them when I lived in Boston. For some reason they are no where to be found in Los Angeles. I have missed them so! They are small and crunchy and salty and the flavored ones are fantastic. I may or may not have snacked liberally on the cheddar ones while studying for the LSAT in 2008.

I was too full to get a bag after the food truck bonanza. But then…

I plan to hoard them and eat them slowly. I asked the Lobsta Truck staff and they said that no where in LA sells them except for them. Clearly I need to stalk the truck so I can get more.

Overall, I definitely want to check out this food truck gathering again! I think it would be a great way to wind down mid week and LCCMom loved her first food truck encounter. I am so glad we happened into this great mid week activity!

Yes, you read that correctly, Tavern Part 2! While LCC Mom and I were indulging in Tavern Part 1 (err I mean Spring break part 1) we realized that Tavern runs a wine and meal pairing event on the first and third Monday of every month. Lucky for us yesterday was the third Monday and they had two seats left.

For new readers: Tavern is a restaurant in Brentwood. My friend Jill spotted Alice Water’s eating there last summer and the rest is history. I went there for my birthday, and am fully obsessed with their salted caramel macaroons. If I could ONLY eat Tavern, I would.

Twice a month the wine club takes over the Larder (where the salted caramel macaroons live). There is a general theme for the night, and last night the theme was Italian wines from the la spinetta vineyard. There were four wines and each wine had a pairing, which was developed by the Tavern chefs to compliment the flavors in the wine. I loved all the wine and the pairings were phenomenal. I had a few old favorites (I see you prosciutto) and new cheese I’ve never tried before, like challerhocker.

The wines were marked with these stamps. I love the style! The tasting was also hosted by Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne (the co owners) which is pretty damn cool if you ask me. They gave a little speech about each wine and the food that they paired it with.

First up, 2009 la spinetta, vermentino

This was the only white of the night. Even though I tend to be more of a red lover I liked this wine. The wine was light and crisp with notes of grapefruit rind, stone fruits and ripe pears. This would be a great wine to sip outside on a warm summer night.

This wine was paired with grilled asparagus with prosciutto and whole grain crème fraiche mustard…

Holy amazing! We got a little tutorial in prosciutto last night. Did you know that this prosciutto was aged for 16 months? It was crazy delicious. The crème fraiche mustard was fantastic and we know how much I love asparagus. Lucky for me, it’s coming into season! I love my seasonal FM eats!

The second wine was 2007 casanova della spinetta, “il nero” sangiovese

This wine is full bodied with a core of plump red fruit, flowers, tobacco, and sweet herbs. Overall, I really liked this red, but it wasn’t my favorite red.

The wine was paired with challerhocker with baguette and walnuts.

Challerhocker is a Swiss cheese that I hadn’t even heard of before last night. Challerhocker means, literally, to sit in the cellar. The cheese is earthy. What goes better with wine than cheese? The walnuts were an interesting contrast with the wine. Delicious!

The third wine was 2007 la spinetta, langhe nebbiolo

This wine was one of my favorites of the night. It was medium bodied with a rose and anise scent and flavors of cherry, orange peel, and subtle green herbs. The wine was paired with an Italian cheese, tallegio fonduta, with grilled bread and arugula salad with apple. The cheese was super melty, like a fondue. The bread was perfectly grilled (did I sense butter?) is there anything in life better than melted cheese on arugula and apples paired with wine? I don’t think so.

The final wine was a 2007 la spinetta, barbera d’asti

This wine has a little bit more acidity and was compared to a pinot noir. Clearly, I was a fan of this wine. This barbera is medium bodied and has rich fruit tones. It was paired with my favorite dish of the night.

Behold: baked torchio with beef ragu and parmesan. This should be on the menu at Tavern. I literally wanted to lick the dish. It was the perfect balance of baked pasta, a delicious sauce, high quality beef and the perfect amount of parmesan. Such a perfect way to end a delicious evening at Tavern!

Overall, I would totally recommend the Tavern Wine and Cheese club. The total cost for the night is only $29, which in my opinion is totally affordable and worth it for what you get. The wine pours were very generous and the mini dishes pretty much evened out to a whole meal. LCCMom enjoyed herself too. I will be going back and if you want to join my tasting table you are more than welcome!

Have you ever been in a wine club? I haven’t been, but I think it would be a fun activity. Maybe I should form one 🙂

It’s confession time: I don’t think I’ve been this burned out ever. Ok, not ever but the past few weeks have been rough. Normally, in law school, your grade is determined by a single final exam. Thus, all the stress comes along in November/December or April/May. This is the most mid semester stress I’ve had in years. Spring break couldn’t come soon enough.

LCCMom decided to come out for my spring break this year. LCCMom and I have been spring breaking together since I was in utero. For years we went to Marco Island, Florida. Last year we went to Palm Springs. This year we’re just staying in LA for what will basically amount to a week of shopping, snacking, and making pit stops at Starbucks.

Some highlights so far…

Dinner at Pecorino. We ate there last time she visited and it was just as good as before.

fave bean salad

Pappardelle with beans and peas

We also hit up the Brentwood Country Mart for brunch at Farmshop. If you haven’t been its a MUST do. I didn’t blog it, but the meal was fantastic!

Because it’s been cold…

non fat latte from Caffe Luxxe

Today was the LA Marathon and it was a rainy, cold downpour. We posted up in Starbucks and watched the elites run by.

Lead wheelchair racer!

Watching this made me so insanely excited for Chicago.

We watched the rest from Tavern. Duh.

Chopped chicken, bacon, romaine, apple and point reyes blue salad

Buckle up for dessert…

Sticky. Bun. Bread. Pudding.

Good lord this was tasty. One of my favorite Tavern desserts ever. There will be more Tavern to come later in the trip…

And because it continues to be cold and rainy…

another non fat latte

The rain was so miserable LCCMom and I parted ways after lunch (I have a 30 page paper due the Tuesday after Spring Break) but not before buying ourselves some dinner for later from New York Bagel.

I was very productive and celebrated with…

Chicken and Matzo Ball Soup

And a little at home yoga flow & headstand. I really wanted to run but its a monsoon outside. Better luck tomorrow?

Finally, this week is all about shopping. LCCMom and I hit up the consignment stores and I got a fantastic belted David Meister dress!

Yay for new professional wear that fits!

More exciting eats and activities ahead in the next week.

What are your ideal vacation activities? Nothing in more calming to me than shopping and eating.