Category Archives: Travel

Weekend Run and Wedding Fun!

Posted on February 1, 2010 | 4 comments

Sorry I was MIA all weekend! I was busy, busy from Friday evening on, so no blogging occurred. Everyone needs a little break once in a while right?

I’m just going to give a quick recap of the weekend and tomorrow will be back to the norm.

On Friday after work the Hubby and I drove up to Albany to my parent’s house. We left late, got there late and pretty much just went to bed. But not before my mom told me that I was absolutely not allowed to run outside the next day. It was supposed to be frigid and she told me she was “pulling the mom card” and telling me no.

So on Saturday I got up and we to my mom’s gym for a nice long treadmill run. Fun times. I generally dislike running anything more than 4 miles on the treadmill, but I didn’t really have many other options. Important note: it was 2 degrees outside!! I got to the gym and was shocked by how many people were there at 9:30 a.m. All the treadmills were taken, so I milled around for a bit until someone hopped off.

I hopped on and told myself that I was running at least 6 miles without feeling guilty. It was the weekend and people could wait. That being decided, I started my run and watched some t.v. After about 30 minutes I decided to do some incline work and raised it to incline 3.5 for about 5 minutes and increased my speed. I did this twice and it really helped move the workout along. I ended up running 7 miles in 61:30.  This week, my training plan called for a total of 22 miles, but after missing a few early-week runs, I only managed to get in 18 miles. I’m not beating myself up about it.

After my workout, I headed back to my parent’s house to do some stretching and relax a bit before getting ready for the wedding.

Kelly and Jerry’s wedding ceremony started at 4:00 p.m. in Schenectady. It was really beautiful and unique. I had never been to a Greek wedding before and I loved all the different rituals and ceremonies. It was a small and cozy church. After the ceremony we headed over to The Glen Sanders Mansion for the reception.

Hubby and I had a great time! I didn’t take any food pictures during the cocktail hour because I was focused solely on eating. 🙂 But I did take a picture with the bride!

Lauren, Kelly, me and Becky

We headed into the main ballroom following cocktail hour and then began the real eating! Hubby and I took our requisite “at the table” photo.

And then we ate! I had a salad for an appetizer (everyone else who got prime rib or chicken for their entrée had pasta as an appetizer). The salad was good, but went unphotographed. Then my main course was Rigatoni Pasta with a Butternut Squash Sauce. It was yummy and very rich.

It looks so bright! I had to use the flash – sorry. It was very good.

Then it was time for some dancing! And boy did we dance. The bride and the groom danced a lot as well! I love when the bride and groom are out on the dance floor enjoying themselves.

Then it was time for a little cake! The cake was great, but I was so full that I could barely eat any of it.

I had such a great time. Here is one last photo of me and Becky – we were table mates and crazy dance partners!

It was a great time, but also a late night and Hubby and I were pretty tired on Sunday. We didn’t end up heading back to NYC until early evening, which means we didn’t get home until basically my bedtime. I tried to stay up and watch The Grammys, but I was exhausted, so I headed to bed.

Tonight’s workout calls for an easy 3-mile run and for that I am very relieved. I wish I had one extra day of rest after weekends like this.

How about you – how was your weekend? Any fun activities – did you brave the cold?

Have a great Monday everyone!

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Posted in Bloggers, Running, Travel, Uncategorized

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I Love an Extra Day Off

Posted on January 18, 2010 | 7 comments

Good morning. I hope everyone is having a good Monday and that those of you who have it off are taking full advantage of the extra rest day. I love having a day off and then a 4-day week – it’s great. Plus, when it’s a busy and fun-filled weekend (like this weekend has been) it really helps to have one more to catch up.

When I last posted, I just finished a 9-mile run with Katherine and was heading out to a bachelorette party at Foxwoods Casino. Before I left I ate a second breakfast after our good run. I had a granola bar, a clementine (two pictured, but I only ate one), a big glass of water and a coffee.

And let me warn you now – I was a bad blogger from here on out with taking photos of our food. I was more interested in taking pictures of all my friends and the fun we were having. Food photos kind of were forgotten.

I drove with Rachael from NYC to Foxwoods and was amazed at how HUGE it is!! It’s like its own little world. This was my first time attending a bachelorette at a casino and it was fun! We got there and got changed and headed to the bride’s room for some pre-dinner fun. Here are some of the goodies and games we had going on.

I definitely snacked on some tostitos with salsa and had two drinks before we left. We also had a bachelorette celebratory shot – and it hurt. I don’t do shots.

We headed to a Mexican restaurant in the casino and started off with appetizers – nachos were a must!

These were pretty darn good! There was also so great guacamole going around, as well as pitchers of margaritas. For my main meal, I shared a chicken burrito with my friend Tera and it was the perfect amount of food. Then we took a lovely group picture!

And a few of the girls got a little bit silly in the back there! It was the margaritas.

And here is Stephanie, me, Kelly (the bride-to-be) and Tera enjoying ourselves.

It was a great night. We followed dinner up with some dancing in one of the casino clubs and we were there until they turned the lights on and kicked everyone out. I haven’t danced in a while, so I was fully enjoying myself. That is the latest I have been out in a very long time. Many drinks were had, but I don’t have an exact count – my head was definitely hurting the next day.

Sunday was a lazy day for me. We drove home and I spent the rest of the day on the couch watching t.v. and I also watched Julie and Julia finally!

It was such a cute movie. I loved being able to relate to the blogging aspect of it and trying to cook new foods. I’m just about the last person to see this movie, but still, if you haven’t seen it – I recommend it.

I didn’t take many food pics on Sunday because I wasn’t too hungry and didn’t have the motivation. I went to bed early and am planning on making today a productive day – laundry, cleaning and hopefully a short run.

What do you like to do on days off – relax and lounge or get errands and “to-dos” done?

Whatever you like to do, I hope you enjoy the day off, if you have it off!

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Posted in Restaurants, Travel, Uncategorized

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Party, Pizza Dip and Peanut Butter Balls

Posted on December 28, 2009 | 14 comments

Good morning blog world. It’s Monday again and I’m heading back to work [groan]. I know that a ton of people took off from Christmas through New Years and I’m very jealous. I’m headed back to work and dreading it.

So I was a bad blogger and was MIA on Sunday. The party on Saturday night was a ton of fun and Sunday was mostly spent lounging around, doing laundry and packing for the trip back to NYC. The Hubby convinced me to relax instead of going for a run and testing out my Garmin – darn him! But it was nice to just hang for a bit.

So here’s a quick recap of Saturday. I pretty much took no photos on Sunday – so it will be considered a lost day. But here goes Saturday.

Breakfast was an English muffin with peanut butter and topped with a banana. Side of cranberry juice.

My mother and I got out during the day to run some errands and brave the shopping crowds. It was a quick trip, but on the way home I had a Gingerbread Latte craving. It was only my second of the season – they are so darn expensive.

I snacked on a few other things during the day, but this was the only thing I managed to capture: Greek yogurt with Kashi cereal.

We headed to the party around 7:00 p.m., so I didn’t really eat a “full dinner” beforehand. I had some cheese and crackers, leftover from our Christmas day appetizers. But the party had plenty of food! I also made my pizza dip to bring along.

The party was a blast – thanks go out to Jenny and Kevin for hosting. I love their house and they are such great hosts. Here are a few pics from the night.

A few apps on the pretty table.

All the girls gathering for a group photo. I thought the stairs would be a perfect spot, but turns out we had a lot of girls and things got a bit squished.

I still think it’s super cute, even though a little tight. There were also lots of yummy desserts. And you know I can’t say “no” to desserts.

My favorite were the peanut butter balls.

Sorry for the terrible pic! I mainly snacked on veggies, taco dip, and a few desserts. I had one scoop of my pizza dip and then went back for more and it was gone. I guess that is a good thing. I had two glasses of wine and one beer throughout the night as well.

Toward the end of the party some meatballs came out and I couldn’t resist them!

They were goood! Hubby and I had such a great time. Before we knew it, everyone had left and it was time to go. Here we are together at the very end of the night.

Wow – I need a haircut!

And now I will leave you with a photo of Mr. Murphy sporting a bow-tie that I bought him from Target after the sweater didn’t fit. Doesn’t he look regal?

Mr. Murph didn’t travel so well in the car on the way up (he got sick), so we had to give him half a Benadryl for the trip back. My mom got that tip from someone who works at Petsmart, but the Benadryl should only be 25 milligrams and then cut in half. Mr. Murphy seemed a bit groggy on the trip back, but we made it home with no sickness, so I consider it a success.

Does your pet(s) travel? Do they like it? Any traveling tips?

I’m planning to hit the gym today after work to burn off some of those holiday calories and get back into the swing of things. It’s time for me to start thinking about my 2010 goals. I’ve seen them posted all over the blogosphere, so I suppose I should give it a whirl.

What’s your biggest 2010 goal?

Have a great Monday everyone!

14 Comments

Posted in Dessert, Holidays, Recipes, Travel, Uncategorized

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Guess Who Got a Garmin?!!

Posted on December 26, 2009 | 6 comments

Happy Day After Christmas! I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas yesterday. I completely logged off and just focused on spending time with my family.

We were up by about 8 a.m. yesterday and opening presents. We’ve tried to scale back Christmas, since the Hubby and I are older and we really don’t need or want lots of gifts. But I have to say that I did get a few cools things, including:

A GARMIN!! Woohoo. My mom had asked a while back what I wanted and I said that was really the only thing I could think of. The funny thing was that the hubby got me one as well! (Love you Hubby!) He didn’t know I had told my mom about wanting one and he read on my blog about my Garmin dreams and bought me one too! So I technically got two Garmins this Christmas!

Then my parents also got me a water bottle for work. I’ve been needing one desperately.

Kleen Kanteen is all stainless steel – so BPA-free (no inner liner that could potentially be problematic) and it’s dishwasher safe. Mine is 40 oz. – I’ll probably drink 2-3 of these a day. 🙂

After we opened our presents, my mom whipped up a quick breakfast of mini cheese, egg and spinach baby Quiche, with sides of bacon and English muffins.

My  plate:

After breakfast the Hubby and I headed to the 11:30 a.m. mass. We took a quick photo before we left.

The 11:30 a.m. mass is the way to go. It wasn’t crowded at all!

After mass, we headed back home and relaxed a bit before some more family came over for dinner. My mom made Murphy a nice little red sweater for Christmas, but I think she underestimated how big he is. It ended up being pretty tight and Murph didn’t like it.

See how he bulges at the bottom? Poor Mr. Murph.

Our family came over around 3:00 p.m. and we ate dinner around 4-4:30. It was delicious, this was my plate.

Two pieces of beef tenderloin, mashed potatoes, green beans, cabbage salad (which is like coleslaw), and broccoli and cauliflower casserole. It was all yummy.

After dinner we played a few games: LCR and Screw Your Neighbor.

Has anyone else played these games?

They are a ton of fun. I lost badly at LCR, but won twice at Screw Your Neighbor. They are really easy for everyone to learn and quick to play.

I also snacked on some Christmas cookies and had some banana cream pie, but completely forgot to take any photos. I sipped on red wine throughout the night as well. It was so much fun and such a wonderful holiday.

This was a pretty short post, but I have to run some errands today with my mom, start laundry and get some stuff together for the party tonight. I really wanted to take my Garmin for a run, but it’s pretty gross here. Snow, sleet and freezing rain would make for a very dangerous run. Maybe tomorrow it will be cleared up a bit and I can go for a quick run before we head back to the city.

But, I’m soo excited to see a bunch of our friends tonight! One of my best friends (Lauren) will be there. I ran the marathon with her and my mom framed one of our “finish” photos for both of us. I’ll have to give her hers tonight.

How cute were we? We held hands as we crossed the finish and we were both pretty much about ready to cry.

So that was my Christmas upstate. I hope everyone else had a wonderful day yesterday!

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Posted in Holidays, Travel, Uncategorized

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Ghost Town

Posted on December 24, 2009 | 10 comments

Happy Christmas Eve!! I can’t believe it’s already here. Furthermore, I can’t believe I’m working today. It seems that everyone either has the day off or took it off. We get out at 3:00 p.m. and since all we have planned for tonight is an 8 p.m. Christmas Eve mass in Upstate NY and then relaxing with my parents, I didn’t see the point in taking a whole day off and using up my time.

Hence, I’m at work and the place is a ghost town. As was the bus and the subway down here. It’s an eery kind of quiet.

Do you have fun Christmas Eve plans?

I know people whose friends throw Christmas Eve parties, but my group has never really done that – Christmas Eve and Day are pretty much family-time for us. I am looking forward to a party on the 26th though! 🙂

So here’s a quick recap of yesterday’s eats:

Breakfast was a multi-grain English muffin with half peanut butter and banana and half cranberry relish I made the other night. And the remainder of the banana on the side, with a glass of light cranberry juice.

Lunch was leftover quinoa! It tasted even better the next day, I think because it was marinating in soy sauce all night.

My afternoon snacks were blueberry Greek yogurt with granola.

And a few chocolates. The first chocolate I chose had a cherry filling that I just didn’t like. I’m not a big chocolate and fruit person – are you? So I had to go back in for a different one…and then I may have had one more (unphotographed).

I had a bit of headache toward the end of the day, so I didn’t end up hitting the gym after work. Instead, I came home, made dinner and we watched a movie and then I sort of packed.

Dinner was grilled cheese with apple and a glass of wine. I was jealous that so many other people were already on vacay and I wanted to feel like I was too – hence the wine.

Close up:

Can ya see the apple? It was a wonderful addition to this traditional sammy.

What do you like to add to your grilled cheese (if you eat it)? I’m also a fan of adding tomatoes, not with apple though.

After dinner, Hubby and I watched Revolutionary Road and had mixed reactions. I didn’t love it, but didn’t hate it either. I thought it was an interesting view of suburban married life and I thought Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio gave wonderful performances. It was a little dark at times, but that didn’t bother me. Hubby thought it was very slow and boring. We agreed to disagree on it. 🙂

Then I read my book for a bit and went to bed. This book, Ahab’s Wife, really has me hooked. Every few chapters I keep being utterly surprised by what happens in the main character’s (Una) life and how she copes with it. There have been a few moments that have caught me off guard with the amount of crudeness discussed or displayed, but the way it’s written allows me to digest it, accept it and move on. In this respect, the book reminds me a bit of John Irving’s style of writing where the absurd is never shocking and the shocking is never absurd.

I also think it’s got to be hard for writers to convey the “shock factor” in a novel. In movies, the visual aspect is key in getting this across, but in books, less is sometimes almost more, as it allows the reader’s mind to fill in the gaps.

Anyway – enough book rambling.  I’m really excited to head upstate tonight after work and see my family. The Murph is coming with us in the car – that’s always interesting. When he was a kitten he loved the car, but as he’s gotten older he seems to have developed car/motion sickness. So we have to keep him in his little carrier and not let him look out the window.

Happy Christmas Eve all!! Safe travels and maybe I’ll post tomorrow – maybe not. We shall see.

10 Comments

Posted in Books, Holidays, Travel, Uncategorized

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Callahan Christmas Weekend Recap

Posted on December 21, 2009 | 6 comments

Happy Monday everyone – happy short week! I’m super excited to have some time off coming up. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! I hope all the fellow NYC bloggers/readers managed okay in the almost foot of snow. How crazy. We came back last night around 6:15 and things were looking pretty decent. We managed to find a parking spot right out front and we climbed our way across the huge mounds of snow.

How did you like the snow this weekend?

Coming from upstate New York, snow has never really bothered me all that much. Upstate I used to have to drive in it, but down here I don’t have to worry about that. So I throw on my tall boots and stomp out in the slush without a problem.

So this weekend up in Utica was a ton of fun! We drove up on Friday night after work and I was exhausted and still recovering from my Thursday night debauchery, so I slept for a lot of the ride. We got to Bill’s parent’s house pretty late and I went right to bed.

Saturday morning I got up and had breakfast with Bill’s mom – a bowl of raisin bran, which was camera shy. Much of my food this weekend was shy and I was lazy. Then I set to wrapping the nieces and nephews’ Christmas presents. The party started around 3:00 and this was the food spread:

Lots of yumminess. I had some pasta, meatballs, shrimp, crackers and cheese, and fruit salad. It was a perfect mixture of all good things.

But dessert was my very favorite:

Bill’s sister Christine made a Hazelnut Chocolate Cake and a Cranberry Cobbler Cake (I made up the names – that’s what I called them). I loved them both. The hazelnut was my favorite at Thanksgiving, but I think the cranberry won my heart this time around. Bill’s mom and I devoured it. YUM! Plus, when there’s fruit, I don’t feel too bad.

What is one of your favorite holiday desserts?

There were tons of nieces and nephews at the party – do you know that I’m a Great Aunt!?! Isn’t that funny? Bill’s sister’s first son has a little girl that’s about 2 1/2 and a 1-month old. I went from having no nieces and nephews (I’m an only child) to have about a zillion when I married Bill. It’s great! Here are a bunch of the kids attacking Bill’s brother-in-law Kevin.

And Bill had fun playing with his best friend Dino and his wife Jen’s son Nathan. How cute is he?

Later on Saturday night we watched “The Hangover” and I laughed until I almost cried. Thank goodness my hangover was nothing like that.

The Hubby and I started heading back to NYC on Sunday afternoon around 2:30. I had a bunch of stuff that I needed to do that evening in preparation for our department’s holiday lunch today.

After we managed to find parking and lug everything over the giant snowbanks and upstairs I had some dinner. Leftovers from the party – pasta with meatballs.

I then set to work frosting some sugar cookies I had previously made for today’s lunch.  

I also wrapped my secret santa gift (lotions from Sephora) and put together little gifts for my immediate co-workers (homemade fudge, homemade cookies, a candy cane and scratch-off ticket).

By the time I was done with all that, it was time for bed! I read for a little before I fell asleep. I’m about 200 pages into Ahab’s Wife and I’m really enjoying it so far. Just when I think I know what’s going to happen, something completely different happens. It’s keeping me on my toes.

Ok – that’s all for today. I have our work holiday lunch today, so I will definitely be taking photos there and trying to stay as healthy as possible (which may be difficult). And I’m going to try to hit the gym after work today, but I’m feeling pretty exhausted. The holidays are tiring!

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Posted in Dessert, Holidays, Travel, Uncategorized

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Quick Post from Utica

Posted on December 19, 2009 | 2 comments

Hi all,

I’m writing from Whitesboro, N.Y., just outside of Utica. We’re here this weekend for the annual Callahan Christmas Party! I’m feeling much better today, thank you for all the advice and sympathy. It really took me all day yesterday to get back to normal. We drove up to Utica last night after work and left around 7 p.m. It’s a four-hour drive and I probably slept three of the four hours. Ugh – I hate hangovers.

I’ll probably be MIA from now until Sunday evening. I’ll try to write a decent recap either Sunday night or Monday morning. I’m expecting to have a ton of yummy desserts and goodies to choose from this weekend, so I’m going to try to practice some self-control, but it will be hard.

Oh and I’m also excited to watch “The Hangover” tonight after all the kiddies go to bed. Bill bought it the day it came out and it seems only appropriate given my condition yesterday to have a viewing. I loved it in the theaters.

So have a wonderful weekend everyone! To my fellow bloggers in NYC – I hear the city is expected to get 6-8 inches of snow! Yowza! I hope it’s all cleared up by the time we head back! 🙂

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Posted in Holidays, Travel, Uncategorized

There’s No Place Like Home

Posted on December 6, 2009 | 6 comments

I’m back in NY and I’m exhausted! The last 4-5 days have been c-r-a-z-y and I am ready for some downtime. I’m going to just give some highlights from the past couple of days, or else this post will get out of control. When I left off, we had just wrapped up our first day in L.A. (Wednesday). Thursday and Friday were full 8-hour days of training and then we went to dinner on Thursday night.

THURSDAY

Here’s an overview of Thursday’s eats:

Gingerbread latte with soy milk and an apple bran muffin from Starbucks for breakfast.

For lunch we went to a vegetarian Indian restaurant called Samosa House and I had their lunch plate. The only things I remember are the Soy Tikki Masala and the Curried Cauliflower. Everything was pretty decent and very filling.

My bad snacks during our training! Eeks. The training host had TONS of junk food available in the kitchen. I like to think that I did pretty well only having these.

For dinner we went to a tapas place in Venice Beach called Primitivo and it was delicious. We shared this salad, which was made up of spinach, goat cheese, apple, walnuts and dates. Amazing.

Next up was a dish with these little potato, egg and cheese morsels. The red sauce was salsa-esque and a bit spicy.

And lastly a steak dish with pommes frites! I was a meat-eater that night apparently. This was amazing. YUM!

We left the restaurant at a fairly decent hour – probably around 10pm (1 am EST) – and I fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow. Exhausted!

FRIDAY

We woke up bright and early on Friday to head into the office and check work email before training started. I must say that this was a lovely sight to see in the morning:

We headed into the office and picked up some breakfast along the way.

Organic blueberry yogurt with granola, a plain coffee and a banana. The granola was particularly yummy.

For our last lunch in L.A. we went to a place called Tender Greens. This “small” salad was filled with spinach, goat cheese and candied pecans. This lunch spot was insane – they churn out salads like a machine.

The rest of Friday was busy with finishing training and heading to the airport for my return flight. I grabbed a turkey sandwich from Starbucks for dinner, but it was  camera-shy. Then I hopped on the red-eye and promptly fell asleep for almost the entire flight.

On a sad note: We did not get a chance to run at all when we were in L.A. But, to be honest, I don’t feel all that bad about it. We were on such a hectic schedule, I literally don’t know where we could have squeezed it in. So I’m not beating myself up about it.

If you don’t get to workout during your travels, do you let it go or feel guilty?

SATURDAY

I got home around 5:45 a.m. and hopped in a cab, came home and went back to bed and slept for a few more hours. When I finally felt human again, I got up and had some breakfast.

Kashi cereal with granola and skim milk, a coffee and a water. I have been a coffee fiend lately!! But I really needed it.

For the rest of the day I cleaned up the apartment a bit and prepped for my two friends who were coming into town in the late afternoon. Kate and Eli and Katie arrived around 4pm. Eli headed out to meet one of his friends and us girls had some quality girly chat time. We made dinner reservations for 7:30, but we were all pretty hungry, so I threw together a little snack plate while we sipped on some wine.

Triscuits, cheddar cheese, grape tomatoes, apple and carrots. It was a great reviver. Then a little while later we headed out into the… SNOW!! The first snow in NYC.

For dinner, we went to Pangea on 2nd between 11th and 12th. They have a very eclectic menu and I ended up getting the Vegetarian Assaggio – it was a mix of grilled veggies, a quinoa pilaf, humus and a balsamic drizzle. I really loved it and ate it all.

Kate and Katie both liked their meals as well. We left Pangea and went to two other bars for a drink at each and headed home pretty early. Here we are:

I’m so glad they came to visit! We haven’t all hung out together in a while. Even though I was a tad bit tired from my L.A. trip and red-eye flight , I think I held it together pretty well.

I have to say that it’s so nice to be home and have some quiet down time. Although I do have to do lots of laundry and clean the apartment a bit, I’m still just so happy to be settled. There really is no place like home!!

Do you feel the same way when you return from a trip?

Have a great Sunday all – sorry for the crazy long post.

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Posted in Restaurants, Travel, Uncategorized

Lagging in L.A.

Posted on December 3, 2009 | 7 comments

Good morning from L.A.! It’s Thursday and this week has flown by (in some ways literally – with a flight to Cali!). We have been going non-stop since we got here yesterday and it doesn’t look like things are going to slow down anytime soon.

I was up at 4:00 am yesterday, in the car by 4:45 and on the plane by 7:30. Before I left the house I had some walnuts and raisins and then at the airport I drank a big cup of coffee before our flight left. I was afraid to really fall asleep on the plane because I knew we had meetings to go to once we got to L.A. and I didn’t want to look groggy and gross. Here’s my large java:

I was able to use the free Wi-Fi for a lot of the flight, but then the computer started making my head hurt, so I signed off. Virgin America is a REALLY nice airline. My only complaint was that I was soo hot throughout the flight. I was thrilled to get off and breathe fresh air.

We arrived around 11 am Cali time and headed for lunch to meet up with a potential web designer for our company. Navigating in L.A. was a little tricky. We were driving a truck that my co-worker borrowed from her friend who lives in L.A. and we were armed with some maps, but it wasn’t easy. I’m used to NYC where it’s a grid and generally the numbers go up and down and East and West. Not as straightforward in L.A. We got to the lunch site, only to find that it no longer serves lunch! So then we had to make our way to a new location.

We finally made it and it was well worth it. We met up with the designer at a really cute outdoor mall and farmers market. It’s soo funny to see Christmas decorations in Cali when it’s 70 degrees out and sunny.

We ate at The Farm and I had a delicious blackened chicken wrap. It had grilled chicken, bacon, roasted tomatoes, avocado, etc. It was delicious – a tad on the spicy side – but I was so hungry at that point that anything was bound to taste good.

I did pretty well on my wrap and then the three of us also had some late-afternoon coffee.

After lunch we headed to the training place for a quick informal meeting. The real training begins today.

By the time we left the training place yesterday Tiffany (co-worker) and I were both pooped. We were even a little delirious from our long day. But we still needed dinner and we thought nothing would perk us up like a little Mexican and margaritas!

They were huge margaritas! We had salsa, chips and guacamole and then I had a chicken quesadilla (I know lots of meat). Here are a few pics (the first is the view from our hotel room):

This last pic is funny because we look sooo exhausted – we had been up for almost 22 hours  – we were definitely lagging! Also, look at the size of the margarita compared to our heads. This is my co-worker Tiffany btw – now you have a face to go with the name. 🙂

Ok off to training ALL day. Have a great day all!

7 Comments

Posted in Restaurants, Travel, Uncategorized

West Coast Bound

Posted on December 2, 2009 | 5 comments

I’m going going, out to Cali, Cali. It’s Wednesday morning and I’m heading out West! To Los Angeles, California to be exact. I’m headed there for training for work, so nothing too exciting – but a trip to Cali just the same.

Right now I’m on the plane and am pumped because we’re flying Virgin America and it has a free Google-sponsored Wi-Fi deal for passengers until January 15, 2010! Nice. Our flight left at 7:30 a.m. (EST) and I am pretty darn tired. I had a giant coffee this morning before the flight because I really don’t want to sleep much on the place since we’ve got a busy day ahead of us. I’m hoping I will be able to post at least once or twice while I’m there.

Let me do a quick recap of yesterday’s eats. For breakfast I went a little crazy and threw some chocolate into my oatmeal. This looks disgusting, but it was good. 1/2 cup of oats, tsp of peanut butter, 1 banana and a few semi-sweet all natural chocolate chips. Once mixed, it looks G-ross.

Next time I’ll take a pre-mixed pic.

For lunch I was boring and had leftovers from Monday night’s dinner, minus the pasta. It tasted pretty decent on day two though. I also had some strawberry Greek yogurt with granola and oats.

Later in the afternoon, as I wrapped up all my work in preparation for the trip, I snacked on two clementines. Still rocking the vitamin c, although I feel pretty much 100% better and think I was just suffering from allergies on Sunday night.


After work I headed home to finish up packing and prepping and spend some time with the hubby. I seriously feel like lately we are just ships passing in the night- we only ever seem to have a day or two together before one of us is off to somewhere else. And last night wasn’t very much quality time since I was packing and wrapping things up and then I went to bed early. Sorry Bill – we’ll get to spend some QT together soon!

How do you stay connected with your significant other when schedules gets hectic and time is tight?

For dinner I wanted something really quick and nothing is quicker than rice and beans. Wild rice, black beans and a few grape tomatoes.

But I also needed some chocolate to ease my traveling nerves – of course!

And now I’m headed across the country to see what Cali has in store. We are staying in Beverly Hills (how posh right?), but we won’t have too much time to explore. We’ll be in training from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm on Thursday and Friday and then I am taking the red-eye back to NY on Friday night. It’s going to be exhausting.

I think we’re headed to a pretty nice lunch this afternoon, so I will be sure to take some pics and hopefully post a daily recap tomorrow at some point. Added bonus, the weather report for the next few days in Cali says between 65-70 degrees – I will certainly take it!!

In the News:
I think this college is taking things a bit too far, What do you think? It’s great to “encourage” living healthy, but you can’t mandate it. People have the right to eat and live as they please.

College’s too-fat-to-graduate rule under fire

I’m signing off and either attacking my new book or watching some free movies. Yup – you read right – I FINISHED David Copperfield finally!! The next book on my list, and with me on the plane, is Ahab’s Wife. Anyone read it? I’ll do a Copperfield review in the near future, but I warn you, it may not be too exciting.

P.S. – Check out this give-away on Meg’s Be Fit Be Full blog. I love the pumpkin granola!

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