My kind of lover boat

Sorry for the late post, we were out and about all day and I was tired, laying in my bed and Nick had to literally push me OUT of my bed and say "go blog!" so I would blog before I got to comfortable!

We started our afternoon of shopping at Dick's sporting goods, where I (unsuccessfully) tried to find a new pair of workout pants. I DID end up with a cute new tank top to work out in for only $12 though- 1/2 off! Whoo! It's green, one of my favorite colors =)

After Dick's we tried to go to Fresh City for smoothies, but they were closed! I was so disappointed, so we headed straight to Tarjay where we grabbed energy bars as an afternoon snack. I had this yummy Muscle Milk Light bar.

I got the stuff I needed to get, including a 6 pack of my favorite Clif bars for only $5!!
After target we took a stop at Border's and I browsed a bunch of new cookbooks that are on my wishlist, and then it was time to go to dinner!

Nick treated me to a delicious dinner at Seven Moons!! We decided to order the Lover's Boat which is a HUGE BOAT full of sushi!!
We started with bowls of miso soup

and steamed gyoza (pork dumplings- I had 3)

Here's the boat!

We managed to finish about 3/4 of this baby!
Here are my plates:


I also had another piece of tuna and crab sashimi.

I was full, but not stuffed after, which is always good!

Now we're relaxing watching a movie- Horton Hears a Who because we never got to watch it last night!

I work early tomorrow morning so my post will come later in the day.

Ciao for now!

Tis the season...

For friends, family and good food! I spent the afternoon baking... and had a few of these while making the crust for my dark chocolate cheesecake:

I also stole a malted milk ball off the sister's gingerbread house and had this cookie my mom brought home from work (she's a preschool teacher)...

I snacked on an apple and 1/2 cup 1% whipped cottage cheese to hold me until dinner.


Dinner was fantastic as it always is at Seven Moons! There were 11 of us celebrating, so we all ordered something yummy and shared!
For appetizers I had one spicy chicken wing, two dumplings, a piece of spicy scallop roll and a couple bites of a rib.


For dinner we all shared some delicious entrees- pad thai, seven moons rice (with shrimp and ham, general tso's and pork with vegetables.

I ordered lemon chicken strips, which I had two of:

Soo delicious! I felt good with my portions, I was full but not stuffed at all- I had room to share this sundae with my sister and twin cousins!

We only ate 3/4 though, it was HUGE!

I'm back home now, hanging out for a while... we just opened our first couple of presents and I got j crew pajamas and table topics... a fun game of questions I've been playing with my family! I also just finished making some deviled eggs for the family appetizer- my grandpa loves them and the woman who normally brings them won't be at dinner tomorrow so the chef-to-be had to take the slack! ;)
We're going to midnight mass this evening, then I'm getting a few hours of sleep before waking up on Christmas morning and seeing what Santa brought me!

Have a very Merry Christmas Eve everyone!!

Sorry if the pics are out of order, its my fam's crazy computer- sorry!

The perfect fall day, and dinner in a box

I apologize for my lack of posting last night; dinner turned out to go pretty late (but it was worth it!) and then my best friend Danielle came over to say goodbye before she leaves for Maine for a while.

My lunch held me over surprisingly well, but I stayed on campus longer than I expected so I grabbed an apple from the Ram's Den to hold me until I got home.

Back at home, I was a bit hungry but didn't want to spoil my dinner so I just finished off the last bit of 1% cottage cheese in the container while waiting for Nick to finish studying.

We went to Seven Moons (he had never been) and it was fantastic as always! We ordered the shu-mai shrimp dumplings to start, which I had three of. (The ones pictured, plus another!)

For our entrees we both went with the Bento Box special. I had never tried this before, and it did not disappoint! It came with miso soup to start:


Then two big boxes with two salads (I ate 1/2 the one with ginger dressing, the carrots and a couple bites of the sprout one), sushi (I ate 2 1/2), some rice (just had a bite) and teriyaki salmon, which was TO DIE FOR... and I cleaned that up pretty well!
Needless to say I was pretty stuffed when dinner was over, but not too too stuffed, so that was a good sign! It was a great break to the middle of the week.

This morning I had planned on going for a run but two minutes (yes, 2...) into it it started raining, and it was cold... so I turned around, only getting in about 4 minutes of running. Instead, I did 20 minutes of weighted leg strengthening moves and abs. I still got a pretty good workout in despite the rain!

Before I headed out I had a mini crunchy pb clif bar.

When I returned, I made breakfast- 3/4 cup ezekiel cereal, 1 cup vanilla hemp milk and a big banana. Mmmm! Warm and filling.

Lunch today is simple, Tuscan White Bean Soup, with some crackers and a pear.

For snacks I packed almonds/dried cherries and a vanilla chobani.

Hopefully these will keep me full during my long day of work/school before I get to relax and make pizza later tonight!!

**Pics up ASAP**

Reunited and it feels so good!

I had a WONDERFUL day with Carolyn and Danielle today! Us Italy girls, all back together!

In the morning, I was just about to go for a run when I felt raindrops... so I quickly ran back inside, and did a 5 minute incline walk on the treadmill to warm up before doing a 35 minute power yoga routine. It was very invigorating, a great start to my day! I had about 3/4 cup cottage cheese before we left to hold me over.

Danielle, Carolyn and I met up this afternoon and went out to sushi for lunch at Seven Moons, because Carolyn had never been there, and she LOVED it! We got a lot and shared- seaweed salad, Vegetarian Nime Chow (I ate 1 roll with peanut sauce), and 2 maki rolls- Spicy Scallop (I had 1 piece) and Los Vegas Roll (crab, cucumber, avocado, asparagus- I had 3 pieces.) We shared some tea, talked about Italy and had a great, peaceful lunch!



After lunch we headed to Newport, where we spent the day browsing the stores, I got myself a new necklace at my favorite boutique Pink Pineapple, and we ended our afternoon with BIG gelatos from Cold Fusion! They reminded us of Italy, so it was a great treat. We got big cups so we could try 4 flavors- I could hardly choose they have so many amazing flavors! I got chocolate coconut, chai tea, cactus pear, and coffee pecan. Every flavor was delectable- and yes, I finished every bite!

After saying our goodbyes to Carolyn, we headed to grab a quick, healthy dinner at Markos- I had my standard, the healthy baked falafel wrap with hummus, baked falafel, lettuce, tomato, and pickles in a huge pita. For dessert I had a few small squares of dark chocolate that Carolyn brought Danielle and I back from Rome! There's nothing like good ol' Italian chocolate to satisfy the sweet tooth! Delizioso!



Off to the movies with a couple friends! Have a great night everyone!

Tattoos and good ol' italian home cookin'

Sorry for the late post; yesterday was such a fun day with Tyler, I really had no time to blog!
I had a quick nectarine before I picked him up at the train station, and we spent the morning doing some of our favorite things- shopping and eating!
He's going to be my roommate next year, so we had a lot of fun at a nearby homegoods store looking at some house wares... I just picked up an olive oil cruet for the house, we'll pick up the rest soon! Then I took Tyler to lunch at my favorite asian restaurant around, I'm sure I've mentioned it plenty of times before- Seven Moons. We decided to both order off the sushi menu [this summer, Tyler discovered he loves both espresso and sushi, which he hated when I left school. I told him he's the perfect roommate now ;)], so ordered some appetizers to start- Chuka (seaweed) salad, and shrimp dumplings (I had half of each)


For my main roll, I chose the Las Vegas roll- pretty much a pumped- up California Roll... crab, cucumber, avocado and asparagus. It was very good, I'll definately try this one again! I was also "forced" to eat a HUGE piece of Tyler's gigantic shrimp tempura roll. I'm not a big tempura fan, but the crunch did give the roll a little extra somethin'!


We skipped dessert at lunch and spent the afternoon at the tattoo parlor, where I stayed wiith Tyler while he got his first tattoo! He ended up getting a beautiful celtic cross (he's an irish boy), that i'm jealous of it was so well done!

After getting a tattoo, Tyler was feeling a frappuccino. So we went to Starbucks, and I got my once-in-the-summer mocha frapp (light), before we headed to our last couple of errands. It was quite tasty, but very ice-cream like... definately a once-in-a-while treat.

Back at home, I made one of my favorite Italian entrees- tagliatelle (not home made, but still fresh!) con ceci (chickpeas), and steamed zucchini/squash fresh from the garden. Tyler wasn't sure if he'd like the ceci sauce, so I made him a side of fresh pomodoro... but he ended up preferring the pepe rosso dressing, and I took a couple spoonfuls of the pomodoro instead! (I love it fresh!)


For dessert, my mom brought me home one of my favorite vegan cookies for us to share; ABC Pumpkin Spice. Yum!

During the movie we watched, I snacked on some cherries... and then a couple small handfuls of peanut m&ms. I've been trying to keep away from too many treats because I'm trying to get back on the healthy track, but theres some things I just can't resist... and I know I should! I guess I'm still in the "eat all you want" mindset- it takes some time, but I know what's best for my body! I'm only human, we all have our slipups. Wednesday is my birthday, so calories don't count, as my grandma says, but Thursday I'll be back to my usual fruits/veggies/grains staples!

I'm off to have a nice birthday breakfast with the fam, I'll be posting later on tonight!

Late night, early morning

Last night by the time my friends went home, it was so late I was far too tired to do anything but sleep... so I decided to hold off on my blogging until the morning! I had a great time though, I got to see both of my best friends in one night which is pretty rare, a nice treat!

We got takeout at 7 moons, and it was delicious of course! For my dinner I had another 1/2 of the 2 Nime Chow with some more peanut sauce (no picture, but like the first one pictured), as well as an avocado sushi roll and seaweed salad. My friend teased me about eating a garden, but I thought it was absolutely delicious and filling- I told him I happen to love my vegan meals!

Later on, I got persuaded into going up the street for home made ice cream... (it's so hard to pass up in the summer) so I got a small, which is actually quite large, black raspberry chip frozen yogurt. A delicious dessert, and slightly healthier than ice cream. I know I'm going for gelato with my sister tonight as well, so I'm probably going to have a vegan sorbetto- I don't like to have dairy very often. This was a very good one though!

After watching a movie, we started getting a little hungry before the second movie we were going to watch, so I introduced my friend Danielle to some of my favorite healthy snacks- dried mango and kiwi, and veggie chips! I had about 3 of each while watching the movie.

It was a great night, and I loved seeing my lovely friends- so I woke up very happy and energetic this morning!
I had originally planned on making pancakes for a group, but both my friends left late because they had to get up early, so it was just me for breakfast. Of course I was craving pancakes though! So I set out to make Erica's Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes. I followed the recipe, except using nonfat soy and carob chips, with a BIG banana... let me say, WOW! Def. the best vegan pancakes I've ever tasted!
I made 3, and although they look funny (I have a really bad pan for pancakes), they were delectable and perfect. I crumbled some walnut halves over the top and had some cherries along with them... and I am STUFFED!


The best saturday morning breakfast- it would only be better if my friends were here, but I'll see both of them again soon!
Today I'm planning on an easier exercise day, I took it a little easy yesterday, but today I think I might just go on a long walk, we'll see. I have a short race tomorrow (my last before I leave!) and I plan on running all week, so I don't think one day off will be a problem!
I'm going to the Farmer's market in the morning (super excited!) then to grab groceries and lunch at the Alternative Food Co-op (my fave health food store in town!), exercise and make my mom and sister a new tester recipe for dinner I'm excited about! And then my sister and I are going for shopping and gelato in Newport later this evening. Such a busy busy day, but I am SO excited!! It should be a lot of fun.

Have a great Saturday everyone!!!

Magnificent Mother's day!

After getting some more work done in my room this afternoon, I went for a nice 4 mile run around my neighborhood before I got ready to go out for dinner.
I snacked on a silk soy yogurt with some nature's path granola and a few strawberries to re-fuel me after running, and hold me until we got to the restaurant.

For dinner we took my Mom to our favorite sushi/asian restaurant, Seven Moons. It was absolutely fantastic, as always!
To start, I ordered Miso soup, and we shared some seaweed salad. (I had about 1/3 of the picture)


For the main part of our meal, we all shared sushi rolls; I chose avocado and yasai (a mix of asparagus, carrot, cucumber and avocado) and the most exciting roll- fruit sushi!
I had 3 pieces of avocado, 1 of the yasai and 2 of the fruit.

My family also ordered some Vegetable Pad Thai, which they made vegan upon my request! I had a small serving of that as well.


It was crazy delicious, and I felt full but not stuffed at all! I love asian food. It was light and healthy but a great, balanced meal.

We visited my aunt at work, and my grandmother to wish them a Happy Mother's Day, and then headed to the Pod Head for some gelato for dessert! It was hard to chose tonight, everything looked so good! I wanted chocolate, and fruit... but the tiramisu looked sooo good- so I went with a combo- 1/2 chocolate strawberry and 1/2 tiramisu. Yum! It was a great way to end the night, and my Mom loved it!

It felt great to be able to spend a nice night with the family without worrying about having to do schoolwork afterwards!
Tomorrow's another cleaning day, and I'll be cooking dinner again for sure!
Have a great night everyone, hope your week started off right this Sunday!