Weekend recap!

This weekend (Sunday/Monday) was so beautiful that I couldn't bring myself inside! I also had a ton of errands to run, assignments to finish and food to cook to get ready for this busy week before we leave to GET MARRIED! oh yah!

Here are some of the pics I took (still with iphone- MUST find cammie before we head to beach!) of the Sustainable Feast we went to on Sunday:

The tents were all on one of the many bridges that lead to downtown Pittsburgh- this one is the Rachel Carson bridge :)

Sweet tomato jam, served on cracker, which I think was supposed to be bread, but they ran out! At least I got the recipe.

Local garlic, kinda expensive, but they served hot, pickled cloves of garlic and they were super tasty!

East End brewing company. Didn't get a sample b/c the line was too long! Oh well!

Local bee-farmer-master(?) brought a live honeycomb with bees and flavored honeys. I tried honey infused with lavender and I regret not buying any!

Food from a catering company that words out of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center and served fresh veggies grown on their roof-top garden- pretty cool!

We had a great time getting samples, recipes and information about CSA's. There were more food booths, but my hands were too full from carrying free-bee's and the food to take pics. We got to the end of the bridge and I had to go to the bathroom so we headed to a bar/pub downtown and got a drink to cool off.

I got an IPA, which the waitress applauded me for, so I had to instantly 'google-it' to find out what it was! I like beer, but I am in no way an afficiando. This one was pretty good. Tom, as per usual, had a fruitastic purple grape! Love a man who loves the fruity drinks! :)

After drinks we headed home, and snapped a few more (albeit poor) pics of the bridges and made dinner which was grilled veggies ala-Tom and a bean quesadilla ala-Julie! *I hope you don't get too tired of seeing the quesadillas, I eat them A LOT*

Monday was equally as busy, because on Sunday I wasn't able to finish my last assignment for my docent class so I had to finish it Monday morning at 6 am and turn it in before I had my various appointments for the day. I am a professional-procrastinator and something came to me this weekend about why I am this way- when I try to start things early, I can't make up my mind about what to write, or what angle to take. When I am at the 11th hour, I go with my gut and the thoughts come freely because I have committed to an idea. I really feel like my assignment turned out well. Regardless, I will still be a docent, b/c it's not like these are graded. After I came to work to turn that in I headed to Bloom Organic Skin Care for my monthly waxing- love, love, love Erinn and her beautiful salon! Then I grabbed some breakie on the go and headed out to Murrysville (hometown) to get my hairs colored and cut and pick up my newly oiled, washed and detailed car at the hubster-to-be's dealership. By 1:30 I was hauling-A to get home, eat a quick lunch and head to yoga. Kelly taught a really great and challenging class and I was tired from trying fore-arm balances. I try one new thing each practice, whether it is a bind that I haven't tried before, or a more advanced pose. This time it was fore-arm balances in dolphin pose and my shouldies are a-screamin today!

Anywho- this week is promising to busy as we prep to get married and go away on vacation! Will post soon!

Workin hard?- barely workin?

Nah- I worked today, I promise (in case anyone from work ever reads this!)
Lunch was leftover salmon and rice from last night with a side of nectarine and banana and now I am a starvin' marvin!

Hubster-to-be (T-minus 12 days until we get married!) decided that we will eat dinner at home and go out and enjoy the evening by having desert drinks outside. Saves on money and helps me not waste food.

We live on the Northside of Pittsburgh, which is right near (walking distance) to the stadiums and we can walk to a couple of restaurants with outdoor seating. Unfortunately, they are all chains/bars, not our usual fare, but since we are only having drinks, I guess that doesn't matter.

Tomorrow, I MUST finish the last part of my docent assignment, since it is due on Monday, and the second part of my task was to find 5-7 works and connect them by theme. I am thinking of choosing a theme of "intersting/odd/unexpected materials or construction" since that is sometimes the only way we can begin to interact with art is through the process(es) in which it was created.

Would you go on a tour in an art museum that featured odd/unusually constructed pieces?

I think I would!

After that, my friend Michael, told me about a Sustainable Food Festival taking place on one of Pittsburgh's many bridges and it just so happens to be a bridge that is within walking distance of my house- double YAY! Hopefully, I can find my camera before this happens so I can post near-edible pics tomorrow! Have a good night!

Last night and this morning...

So, as I mentioned yesterday, the hubster-to-be was in charge of dinner and it was a complete hit! I got back from yoga, which was amazing because Lisa, my Friday instructor is great! It was a packed class, and I was mat-to-mat with people (which I do not like b/c I can't focus) but the temp was just right and the pace of people around me was good too! I prefer to practice at the front of a class so I am not distracted by people in front of me (or put off balance) and last night I realized that I am finally getting good at this yoga stuff! I was sweating from the heat and not so much from exertion which helps my breathing to relax and enables me to hold poses longer and stronger.

Back to dinner- I got home, showered and dinner was served al freso on our make-shift, former dining room table, patio set. That's right- we took our old table that we got in Arizona and weren't using and put it on our patio. Soon, before it gets cold, I will spray seal the table with heavy duty lacquer so it can sit outside in the fall/winter. Tonights menu was at my request and featured grilled salmon served over wilted spinach with tomatoes and onions. On the side we had green beans (frozen/organic) with brown rice (frozen/organic). It was DEEEElicious! I literally scarfed it down in 10 minutes flat. I left hubster-to-be in the dust which  never happens b/c he is literally the fastest eater in the east!

*another disclaimer about photos- still can't find my camera and last night it was already getting dark when we started to eat*

So all in all, dinner was faboo and it was the perfect night to eat out- not humid, no bugs! We are thinking this might be a new Friday night post-yoga ritual!

Here is what has been staring me in the face all week:

This is a bag of good-lookin carrots, unfortunately not local and not organic, that I picked up a week or two ago in the Strip District. I got them b/c they were cheap and I planned on making juice with them in my new juicer. I made about half of a pitcher's worth of carrot/apple juice and didn't even use half of the bag! Now I need to find a recipe to use up the rest of these carrots. I am thinking Curried Carrot Soup. I love soup any time of the year and I looooove curry. I might check my recipes at home to see if I have any that look a bit more exciting, but this one looks pretty darn good- minus chicken broth for veggie broth, of course!

This morning, I didn't have anything in the cupboards for breakfast. This seems to happen to me on Saturdays usually becuase Sunday is my shopping day. Here is what I ended up with for breakfast, from local coffee shop Kiva Han.

California wrap (egg, avocado, sprouts, chipotle spread with iced coffee and a side of sriracha- yum!

As evidenced by the carrots, and the near-spolied salad I had for lunch, I am really making an effort to waste less food. I have a MAJOR, TERRIBLE tendency to over-buy at the store (costing me more money, especially at Whole Foods) and not getting around to cooking the fresh produce that expires the fastest. I have found that making one or two full recipes of a dish carries me through the whole week and I only inject quick quesadillas, salads, veggie burgers or tofu when I need a little extra. This method of cooking 2 dishes ahead of time, and taking it for lunch or eating it for dinner really helps me not buy my lunch at work and eat healthier. However, I get sucked in, almost every Sunday, to buying too much and I am going to try to prevent myself from doing that tomorrow with every ounce of my being. Clearly, this week's menu will feature soup, which means I need something with some fiber/protein and that usually comes in the form of beans or legumes like lentils. With that, I better get back to looking up recipes work.

Later!

What dish do you think would go well with Curried Carrot Soup?

What recipe do you make that keeps well as leftovers?

Lunch fail!

Oh man, today's lunch was the worst! All in all, I am not having a good food day. I will not be earning any jeanie-bucks! LOL!

On Monday I had made a salad of tomatoes, cukes, celery (on it's last leg), onion, garlic, and chick peas with a rice vinegar/oil/salt/pepper dressing and it was pretty great. 'Cept it didn't last until Friday. I had already eaten it for lunch 2 times on top of a salad of romaine lettuce topped with goat cheese feta. Today, I forced it down b/c I didn't want to have to buy lunch since this am I stopped and got coffee and a blueberry muffin (which I ate after lunch) and a egg/cheese muffin.

Good thing I have yoga tonight and the hubster-to-be is in charge of dinner: grilled salmon on top of spinach with green beans (organic, frozen) with brown rice (organic, frozen) and lemmy-pep a.k.a. lemon pepper seasoning.

First, real, consecutive post!

*pre-post apology, please forgive the quality of photos, I used my iphone b/c I can't find my real camera*



On Thursdays, I go into work late and stay late. The museums are open until 8pm and that means that I have to stay to close them. This means that my "eating schedule" gets all out of whack because 1. I sleep in and eat a late breakfast, 2. get into work right at lunch time, and get busy and postpone lunch, 3. eat a late dinner when I get home due to aforementioned late meals. So, when I have a late dinner (past 8pm) I try to make it small and without a lot of carbs, for sugar and absorption purposes AND because I am hungry and want to be filled up as fast as possible. My most favorite lo-carb, quickie, healthy meal is a refried bean quesadilla. I use vegetarian refried beans (beans aren't meat, you're right, but the non-veggie ones contain lard- gross!) I also use a small amount of shredded cheese and whatever other veggies I have in the fridge.

This time, all I had on-hand was some spinach, sad! I know! So, I cut my tortilla in half, spread about 1/3 cup of refried beans on both sides, added some spinach, a sprinkle of cheese, and a sprinkle of fajita seasoning (not pictured) Then I pop this onto a piece of tin foil and place on top rack of oven and toast at 400 degrees until browned and gooey.

This is the yumminess that comes out of the oven. I served it with some medium salsa from Whole Foods which is one of my favorite salsas because it is thick and not too salty. I had a better pic to share of my completed quesadilla but I captured the oven clock, which read 9:00pm and I was embarrassed to show that I was eating SO late. One of the reasons I got home even later than 8:30 was that I was working on my assignment for my docent class. Many of you might not know, but now you will, that I work at the Carnegie Museum of Art and Natural History in Pittsburgh, PA and I am an assistant manager in the customer service department. Although I love my job, I want to work exclusively for the art museum and have just recently completed the pre-requisite art history class to become an art docent (person who gives guided tours of the collections to visitors and groups) and will be starting my docent classes on 9-20-10. In preparation for these classes we were given an assignment on engaging with works of art and linking pieces by themes- a small piece of what I will be trained to do as a docent.

Here is a pic of the piece I am working with for my assignment on how to engage with a work of art:

This piece is titled Structure, 1945 by Isamu Noguchi. I <3 this sculpture big time! I really, really love wooden sculptures to begin with- they have such life to them because wood is such a dynamic medium. In this case, the shapes are very reminiscent of male and female forms and the context here, being crafted in 1945 by a Japanese sculptor has its own level of significance.

What do you think about art? What do you think about sculpture?

Is this a piece you would stop and notice?

Anywho- better get back to work! Currently I am hoping that my frozen soup defrosts for lunch (not likely) and I find a new book to read. I just got finished reading two books by Dan Savage of Savage Love called The Commitment: Love, Sex, Marriage, and My Family and  The Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go Get Pregnant which are about marriage and adoption in that order and were absolutely.hilarious!

What books are you reading? Any good recommendations? I wonder if I ask questions, will someone actually read them and commnet?! ha!

I just can't wait...

To get married! It's going to be a blast and I can't wait to post pics here, they are going to be amazing!
OK, just wanted to get that out of (give it more room?) my system!

Later!

New me- new blog!

For everyone (no one, really, let's be honest) who reads this, things in my life are waaaaaay different than the last time that I made that post. In *shorthand* summary, Tom and I postponed (between the two of us) then tossed that idea and went full-bore towards planning a wedding- had horrible, terrible fights and disagreements, officially postponed wedding, almost split-up, went to counseling, got back on track, planned a trip to the beach and are now getting married in 2 weeks- at said beach vacation. I am actually exhausted typing (remembering) all of these details, but sometimes that is exactly how life goes, no?

The ceremony we have planned is taking place on the beach (weather permitting) and will just be Tom, myself and the officiant, and the coordinator. Friends and family have said that this is what we should have done all along and for sure, I know now that I was fighting this inevitability. I have always felt that the validation part of a wedding was proclaiming the love and committment publicly, and more specifically, in front of family. So trying to make that happen, for various reasons I have discussed previously and won't rehash, that wasn't happening for me, for US. Having come to terms with this, through a major scare with Tom and I, we are now where we should have been 6-24-2009 when we first got engaged, and I couldn't be happier, honestly! Just so I can blab about some details: we have set-up photos all over AC boardwalk and have plans for a schmancy dinner afterwards. Funny detail I want to mention is that we are going to celebrate with cake and champagne before the ceremony- I mean, why not?! I want those moments captured on film, so we can remember them as accurately as possible. (I mega-<3 art so the photos are of the UTmost importance to me)

As for this blog? I want to recommit to posting for several reasons:

• I love my life and my future hubster and want to write about it! Hell, I want to talk about it with everyone, but, you know, people get tired of all my mushy-gushiness.
• I have been inspired (yah, yah, and who hasn't?) by all of the wonderful, powerful and insightful women-bloggers (blog-hers?) that I read and I want to reap not only the benefits of reading about their lives, I want to contribute my own 2-cents! (with the way I over-describe, and don't edit, I am sure this will be more like $5.00!)
• I have changed the way I eat, shop, cook, plan my days, exercise and generally think about the world and I feel that one of the draws, which I haven't read anyone admit to, is that blogging keeps you on track and motivated. It keeps you accountable because you have (in my case, might have) readers who get something from your words and what better way to be consistent in a new lifestyle than to write about it?

 So here's the 4-1-1-: I am going to make my best attempt to keep up with it, as others that I read daily[KERF, Front Burner, Chic Life, Healthy Tipping Point and A Practical Wedding do so that I will be more accountable in my own life and blogging.

With that, I had better get back to work (you know, the one that pays my bills) and will see you all tomorrow with details about...the rest of my day today? plans for tomorrow? I don't know, but stay tuned!