New York City!!

This past weekend I went to New York city for a special occasion - my dad's fraternity's centennial gala. I was excited to be able to be part of the official celebration of the occasion, eat some yummy food, see my parents and friends, and attempt to like New york a little bit better :-)

I woke up before my alarm on Friday morning, had some breakfast and finished packing. I had some European style yogurt, a pear, and a GF toaster waffle.


Lunch was eaten on the bus. I had packed a GF PB &J sandwich, carrots, and grapes to eat on the way. It was the perfect mobile meal on our rainy trek north.


I arrived in the afternoon and walked the 12 blocks to the hotel where we were staying for the weekend. It was great to see my parents after a few months and we quickly made our way to a happy hour at one fraternity brother's apartment on the Upper West Side. (warning - I was really bad at taking food pictures, except for one meal). I nibbled on veggies and a bit of matbuchah (Middle Eastern tomato salsa) and hummus. It was a great kick-off to the weekend! My parents and I headed to Times Square from there where we saw Hair. It was a good production and it's always fun to see a show in NY. We went to Ellen's Stardust Diner for a snack / dinner / dessert. My parents are a bit obsessed with the place - all of the waiters are in training and auditioning for Broadway shows and they're actually pretty good. By the time we were done it was 1 am and time to hide to bed.

Saturday morning my mom and I had breakfast with a friend and then attempted to get tickets to see the afternoon show of Wicked. We did not win the lottery to get tickets so instead we headed downtown to the East Village to visit a GF bakery that I have heard amazing things about. Babycakes lived up to all of the hype - the goodies there are fantastic and I loved that they even have treats sans unrefined sugar!! After loading up on treats to bring back to DC, it was early afternoon and I was quite hungry.

We headed across town to the West Village to visit Risotteria, another GF-friendly establishment. I think my mom was pretty shocked that I was actually excited to eat Italian food (it's a very rare occurrence)! My mom also loved that they had glutinous things on the menu which meant she could eat something "normal." They bring you breadsticks when you sit down (GF, of course) which were pretty good (I ate half of mine).

And we started with a salad with lettuce, corn, green beans, and sun-dried tomatoes

And the piece de resistance - gluten free mozzerella pizza!! I only had a slice (the rest is in my fridge :-) ) and it was soooooo delicious!

Saturday night was the big gala and we all had a great time. A couple of people from my sorority also joined us for the festivities and it was a wonderful night!

On Sunday, I had to be up early so I managed a gym session (10.5 mile sprint on the bike), a light breakfast, and then finished up my packing. As everyone was heading out to the airport, I was off to brunch with some friends. We went to Rice in Murray Hill which was also delish and then they were so kind as to walk / navigate me to my bus stop. I got home last night, exhausted, and tried to prepare for another busy week.

Happy that my weekend is here!

I am so happy to have made it through this week. Between seeing friends, late night programs for work, and the dreary nor-easter that's sitting on top of DC right now, I've been keeping myself busy and feel like I had a jam-packed week.

Tonight was my first workout since Sunday and boy, did it feel good! I did 35minutes of running intervals and another 30 minutes on the elliptical, with quite a few sprints. I stretched and ran from / to home to get a bit more cardio in. I've hit 8 miles for the day - I guess I'm making up for only getting in 3 or 4 a day since Sunday.

I had some salad and my veggie chili (last of it, I swear) with cauliflower faux-tatoes on top, Shepherd's pie style.
For lunch I had a salad with carrots, corn, and kidney and black beans with a light sprinkling of cheese and an apple. I felt refueled for my afternoon but did manage to snack on some more fruit and some nuts during our all-department meeting in which we made care packages and wrote cards for T.A.P.S, an organization that works with families of fallen soldiers.

This morning I had some PB toast, an egg white on 1 slice toast, and a pear w/ an AB drizzle. It held be over until 2pm which was great!


Yesterday I got to sleep in a bit because I knew I'd be working until at least 11pm. I had my Bob's Red Mill hot cereal with berries, flax, and PB drizzled on top. I have to admit, the flax seeds really keep me feeling full for quite a long time! 4 hours at least! It's kind of nice.


When I did finally get hungry in the afternoon, I had my favorite Wasabi chicken soup. The broth was quite oily so I dumped it out and just ate the chicken, rice, and veggies.


I stopped at home for about an hour and a half in which I did some packing for my trip to New York this weekend and ate dinner. I had a salad with corn, carrots, and some brown rice tortilla chips crumbles and an Amy's tamale pie for dinner.


When I finally made it home last night I had a piece of toast w/ PB as I watched Top Chef and then headed to bed.

Whew, as I said, I'm glad for the weekend and to be heading to New York tomorrow. I'm joining my parents and various friends to celebrate the centennial of my dad's fraternity. I'm just hoping the sun comes out for a bit!!