May showers?

I thought the phrase was “April showers…” but apparently not.  Gotta love the Bay Area.  I felt like I was in New York because we had a non-stop drizzle the whole weekend interspersed with some serious downpour action. 

Saturday we woke up extremely early (again) for no reason other than lack of time zone adjustment. 

Since I was already up, I had a bowl of frothy coffee and a vanilla greek yog.  Then I did some errands with my pops, which took all of 5 minutes, but still earned me a coffee from Peet’s.  That got me really buzzing!  We also ran to a few different newsstands in town to pick up extra copies of the ContraCostaTimes since our engagement announcement was in the paper.  Just presh, I know.

 

FOr lunch, I polished off the last of the soup, along with far too many crackers.  Seriously, EVERY Trader Joe’s product is better than the last.  I have SUCH a weakness for TJ’s treats.  I ate the rest of the (above) sesame thins – which was approximately half the container (and most likely 25 servings) – and an apple.

Then I busted out the rest of the hummus from yesterday, and finished that off, with (you guessed it) MORE crackers.

Seriously?  Yes, I ate the entire box of Cracked Pepper & Olive Oil flavor (sooooo good), and a handful of the Rosemary & Olive Oil flavor.  I’d never tasted either before, because ordinarily I’d never buy Triscuits.  I have no moderation for such things, and without any self-control, it’s too $$ to keep stocked in our NYC apartment.  But at my parents house, the pantry is loaded with enough grub for WWIII and WWIV – a very dangerous thing. 

Not my ideal lunch, since it was about as balanced a meal as the latest pasta bread bowl from Domino’s. 

C’est la vie.  Right?  As Heather previously posted, this was one of those times when my snack-self overpowered my rational-healthy-eating-self, and the only thing to do is blog about it move on. 

Instead of exercising, I decided to chill on the couch in my food coma state while watching the Kentucky Derby.  Puh-leez, it was raining, who would want to go for a jog around the neighborhood when it’s wet and cold outside?  No thanks.

Eventually I showered and got ready for THE main event of the weekend…Elaine and Dave’s wedding! 

Gorgeous much?  She’s taken now!

My pics are a bit on the blurry side, but trust me, it was a beautiful ceremony, and the reception was a total blast. 

Calla lily cake!

Me and Kyle.                            Me and Lauren.

Me and Mrs. Ernst.

The first dance.                        Cutting the cake.

What a night – it was so much fun!!  Congrats again Elaine and Dave.  You guys are such an adorable couple!

Sunday morning started just as early.  Can’t a girl sleep in, geez! 

I had TJ’s spiced chai tea in the cutest mug and watched old school episodes of 90210.  Ideally, I think that’s how I’d spend all my weekend mornings.

Eventually the time came to get to the airport, so I packed everything up and off we went. 

Tips for meals on long flights:

• There is no such thing as over-packing.  I am far happier with having left-over food options than being forced to eat crappy chips because I’m starving and desperate.
• To get around the liquid rule, I use salsa, or black bean/green sauces from the condiment stand on my salads.
• Variety is the spice of life.  I try to give myself all sorts of choices, from salty to sweet to spicy because then I am less likely to cave and eat 500 of JetBlue’s mini-snack packs (this is something I have definitely done before and I left the plane feeling like ass).
• Fluids, fluids, fluids.  Hydration is key, even if it means stepping over your neighbor to pee every 15 minutes.  Flying is horrible and dehydration only makes it worse, especially if you are chomping down salty foods.

Here’s most of what I packed for the 6+ hour trek back home:

Bread with hummus + veggie slices + spinach + dried cranz

Sammie packed with yummy salty, sweet, and crunchy ingreds.

Leftover BBQ tofu + spinach/butter lettuce + multi-colored cherry tomatoes + dried cranz + carrots + snap peas

Additional treats: strawberry pom odwalla bar + apricot clif bar (and the obligatory starbucks run)

Thanks to The Celebrity Apprentice and my latest read, The Glass Castle, the flight wasn’t too bad.  More wedding talk, crosswords, yadda yadda…and finally, at long last (well past midnight), we made it home.

Still raining…sweet.

Wanna win stuff!  Gena’s first giveaway!

Happy 81st Walt

I don’t have AM pictures because we were out and about looking at wedding sites all over the Bay Area.  But let’s be real, you guys know exactly what I had (starbeezies)!

After conquering most of the places on our list, we headed to the store (it was already 2 pm).  I picked up this yummy soup at Trader Joe’s. 

When it’s raining outside, I crave soup – warm, thick, butternut squash deliciousness. 

Trader Joe’s is definitely a must when I’m visiting home.  The line (or lack thereof) at the Lafayette store is a breeze compared to Manhattan’s cluster f%&^ mob scene. 

I also had an Ezekiel english muffin, which was the perfect dipping device, and sopped up the soup like a sponge.  Mmmm.  Naturally I ended lunch with the apple slices – gotta have the crunch factor.

Since it was still raining, I nixed the possibility of exercising (as if it was ever a real option) and decided to go in the hot tub instead.

Can you imagine anything lazier better than lounging in a 100+ degree hot tub?  Spa time literally makes any weather tolerable…if ONLY we had this option in NYC.  I love being home :)

(It really was raining, even though you can’t tell in the pictures)

After our little R&R break, it was back to work.  Not wedding stuff, but cooking for my grandpa’s 81st birthday party. 

I love me a BBQ party.  Weather wasn’t a factor since we have a pavilion in the backyard providing shelter to the outside cooking area.

Here are some food and family pics from the rest of the night.  Minimal explanation needed.

3 types of hummus + 2 types of veggies – I all

There was also a brie/crackers platter – but there’s no photo because I’m a hater. 

My dad BBQ-ed some tofu and ‘shrooms for me (everyone else got chicken and rib eye).

 

Here’s my glorious plate, laded with salad, butternut squash risotto, fresh bread, and the BBQ goodies.

Here’s the real star of the event.  My mom made this baby from scratch. 

My sister and I didn’t plan to match. 

Do pictures get any cuter than this?  I don’t think so…

Chocolate-y heaven.  Eat your heart out.

The best part of the night was the wine.  I think I have mentioned my wino upbringing before.  My family has a vineyard in Sonoma run by my grandpa, and we had a very special bottle for tonight’s occasion.

1999 Quivira Zinfandel

The label was written shortly after my grandpa’s dog Zin Tin Tin died, so it has extra sentimental value…plus there were only 564 cases made. 

Peace out bloggies!

First day of snow!

I woke up to flurries, and the weather only picked up from there. It was nice to sip hot coffee inside, wrapped in blankets, while the snow fell outside. I only like snow when I don’t have to leave the house though, so I think I’ll be over it pretty quickly since I have work tomorrow.

With my AM coffee, I had a handful of dates, they were SUPER soft and chewy – the way I like them best.

Look at the snow! It's hard to tell how much it was actually snowing from the pics, since I'm not a whiz with the camera. In fact it's Kyle's camera, so I was just glad I managed to figure out how to turn the flash off.

Maybe I'll have my first white christmas this year?

Brrr...

Lunch. Veggie "chicken" spread.

I mixed it with some ff chobani...

Then I sliced up an apple to dip in the greek yog/"chicken" spread mixture.

It was good, in fact great, but it didn't fill me up, so I had some more spread layered on a piece of A street bread. I looooove this spread.

Still hungry, so I made up another slice (this time finishing off the spread). Mmmm...

After lunch I was full and ready to brave the storm. As I walked to the gym, I practically turned into an icicle!! IT. WAS. FREEZING. Looks like my days of outdoor running are over!

At the gym, I was kinda in a lazy mood. I really wasn't too motivated, so I turned on the t.v. and zoned out for a not-so-intense elliptical workout. Good thing ellen was on so the time flew by...I did do an above average (for me) arm work out, followed by a sub-par ab work out, and a lot of stretching. Ah well. No gym tomorrow, so at least I can rest and my muscles can get a break for a few days.

I was starving after the gym, so I heated up a bowl of creamy butternut squash soup, which I then spilled.

Since I was a klutz, I was left with only half the bowl (post spill), so I also snacked on some soy nuts. Man do I love salt.

For dinner I had "Health is Wealth" vegan nuggets. L-A-Z-Y!!

Here's my full spread. Yes, that's regular bbq sauce, HFCS and all. I'm pretty sure the carrots make up for it, though, right?

I didn't wait long for dessert. This choc sorbet was an obvious choice. I had a third of the container and then got mad at myself for eating without designating a set portion (a BIG no-no).

So then I scooped the rest of my dessert into a glass. In total, I think I had half the carton? While I'm annoyed that I didn't eat dessert very mindfully, I'm glad that I realized it and corrected the situation before it got out of hand (a problem I'm definitely not a stranger to).

Hello sugar high.