In This Club

Greetings from back in PA! My friend Lauren and I left the beach early this afternoon to beat traffic (driving home from the Jersey shore on a Sunday night is not fun, let me tell you).

Before leaving, we made another pit stop at Wawa for some hoagies. A few summers ago I lived off of these things!

Mine was the same as I had yesterday, with lots of veggies and peppers. I also bought a container of strawberries and blueberries, which I ended up saving for later in favor of this...

A F'Real milkshake! It's perhaps the best invention ever. You pick a flavor (ours was chocolate):

Put it in the machine and select a thickness:

Then a minute later, you have a perfectly blended milkshake. Laur and I split this one. It was delicious.

On the drive home, we jammed out to the wonderful array of old CDs I've had in my car since high school. Did you know that if you say the lyrics to a hip song in a normal voice, you sound like a total pervert?

Seriously, it's true. Just try talking the words to "Love In This Club." It's impossible with a straight face. Shake by the Ying Yang Twins is just as good but slightly more difficult because they rap so quickly. For experts only.

Anyway, now I'm just hanging out at home. Going to a birthday celebration tonight. Hope you're having a wonderful end to your weekend!

What's your favorite rap or hip hop song? Come on, you know there are a few morally reprehensible ones you secretly love...

Would You Rather

Lunchtime!

For today's lunch, I packed up a Maranatha creamy almond butter sandwich on whole-wheat bread, some peanut pumpkin pudding (about 1 c canned pumpkin + 1 serving Trader Joe's peanut flour + maple syrup to taste), an apple and a mini cherry pie Larabar that actually went uneaten. I was already too full from the rest of my meal!

Yep, my love for pumpkin has officially ended for the time being. I'm sure the appetite will be back come fall, but this old favorite was just not as appealing as it was all winter.

Fortunately my love for nut butters is still goin' strong ;)

I'm currently typing this from my favorite cozy corner, which, I have to say, isn't feeling too cozy at the moment. Wearing shorts today was a bad idea, because I'm absolutely freezing! My Topsiders are soaked from the rain, so I'm sitting on my toes in an attempt to warm them up. I'll take sweltering, sweaty heat over cold any day.

That statement reminds me of how in high school, my class was kind of obsessed with Would You Rathers- you know, where you give someone two ridiculous options and make them choose between them? They included gems like:

   -   Would you rather have to publicly eat only cat food, or use a litter box for the rest of your life?
   -   Would you rather never wear deodorant, or never use shampoo?
   -   Would you rather make out with your dog every morning, or never kiss anyone again?

Tough ones, right? I think I'd have to go with using the litter box (you'd get used to it, but no one would want to be your friend with Meow Mix breath), never using deodorant (I'd wear long sleeves and keep my arms down), and never kiss anyone again (I've seen where dogs like to lick).

Your turn: answer one or all of the questions above! Or give me your best would-you-rather.

A Royal Obsession

Okay, I give in. I AM SECRETLY OBSESSED WITH THE ROYAL WEDDING TOO. There, I said it.

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I'm not following it religiously, but I'd be lying if I said a little part of me didn't get all excited whenever coverage comes on the news. I can't help it! As a twenty-something young woman I'm genetically programmed to be obsessed with all things wedding related. I'm kind of debating going to the gym at 6 AM tomorrow, just to simultaneously watch the coverage on multiple channels. I hope her gown is awesomely ridiculous and that Prince Harry is looking fine in his best man attire. Don't judge me. Or pretend like you're not going to watch it, too.

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* * * 

I love making meals the day after a grocery trip- there are so many options! For today's lunch, I had an Italian-inspired salad.

Baby spinach, carrots, a tomato and a zucchini all chopped up, then topped with a serving of Trader Joe's meatless meatballs, a pour of marinara sauce and a dousing of nutritional yeast flakes.

Close up, nooch kind of looks like fungus. I'm glad I realized that after devouring it. For sauce-mopping purposes, I also had a whole-wheat wrap on the side.

As well as an apple, some cashews and almonds.

One thing that really frustrates me about city living is that produce never seems to go on sale, at least in the supermarket I frequent! I love apples, but even I'd like a bit more variety with my fruit. Unlike PA, though, I can never find berries or more exotic fruits for less than $4-5 a serving. Annoying.

I'm off to take a Physique 57 class this afternoon- wish me and my noodle arms luck!

Have you been following the royal wedding hoopla? Do you plan on watching it tomorrow morning? Don't lie. We're all friends here.

Bidet Kitty

Last night as I was getting ready for bed, my mom called me into her bathroom to see something. We live in an old house, so it's got a few quirky touches, including a bidet in my parents' bathroom. It's never really been used, so guess who turned it into a bed?

Bidet kitty Cali! She even knew that the bidet is for cleaning yourself.

As a kid, I actually thought the bidet was some kind of bizarre backwards urinal. I used to have tons of fun turning it on full-force and watching the chute of water splash all over the bathroom. Later, it became a makeshift foot bath when my elementary school friends and I wanted to play nail salon. Though I think this might be the best use of a bidet I've ever seen...

And no, I don't think anyone in my family has actually ever used it for the intended purpose.

* * *

Breakfast this morning was the exact same as yesterday's: Trader Joe's High Fiber cereal, sliced fresh strawberries and So Delicious coconut milk.

Loving the return of fresh berries to my cereal. Bananas pale in comparison (literally).

Today is most definitely a cardio day- my arms are so sore from yesterday's BodyPump class! 

Bidets: discuss. The whole concept is just kind of odd to me. I'll stick with toilet paper. (This might just be the weirdest thing I've ever posted.)

April 15

Do you know what today is? Think carefully...

   - Yes, it's the usual Tax Day.
   - Yes, it's the beautiful Katie's birthday.
   - Yes, it's the 56th birthday of McDonald's.

But I'm not talking about any of those things. Still stumped?

It's the 99th anniversary of the Titanic sinking. Come on, you knew that!

My Titanic obsession has always been my biggest quirk. I've been interested in the story since 1996, when I toured the Queen Mary with my parents and bought the book Polar the Titanic Bear in the gift shop. Because of the movie, many people say they were  once "obsessed" with the ship too, but trust me- NO ONE was as obsessed as I was. No one. I had an entire bookshelf of books about it. I knew each of the ranking officers' names and positions. If you'd given me a blank map of the ship, I would have given you a perfect blueprint in return. I could tell you how each of the prominent passengers gained their fortune. And, oh yeah, I wrote my college essay about it.

Yeah, still think you're as obsessed as I was? Didn't think so. I'm such a Titanic snob :)

Making a Titanic diorama with my dad, circa 1997.

The thing is, even after all these years, I'm still absolutely fascinated by both the ship itself, and the personal histories of those who were on it. I couldn't tell you exactly why, but I have both awe and respect for the story...I think it's an incredibly tragic event that has a lot to teach us about class differences and human fallibility. And if I ever become ridiculously loaded, you can bet that I'll be shelling out the sixty grand to visit the ship on the ocean floor. It's been on my bucket list for years.

So yes, April 15 is an important day to me. By the way, did you know that they're digitally remastering the movie in 3D for an April 2012 release? Get excited.

* * *

Now that I've successfully geeked myself out and scared half my readers away, here's breakfast!

I poured myself a whopping bowl of LoveGrown Foods sweet cranberry pecan granola, and topped it with a sliced banana.

This bowl was absolutely monstrous. There were several servings left in the bag, and for some reason I opted to pour it all in instead of saving some for later. Bad call- one of the few times my eyes have ever been too big for my stomach! 

I ended up tossing about a serving's worth of soggy cereal. Granola is much denser than it seems!

Going to a strength training class at the gym this morning. Happy Friday!

What's your nerdiest interest? After the above proclamation, I hope that no one is too embarrassed to spill...

20 is So Donezo

Getting snowed in isn't so bad when you have:

1. A yummy pasta and veggie dinner. 

I unearthed this Allergaroo kids' penne pasta dinner in my cabinets and decided to incorporate it into tonight's lazy-girl meal.

The slightly-mushy rice pasta wasn't awesome, but it wasn't bad, either. I added some spinach and steamed frozen veggies, and voila- dinner was served!

2. Lots of desserts.

I started off with a massive bowl of diced pineapple.

Progressed to Baker's dark chocolate.

And eventually polished off an entire pint of Ciao Bella blood orange sorbet. 

Confession: up until this evening, I'd never polished off a pint of any frozen dessert. It's probably not a good habit to get into, but there's something strangely satisfying about scraping the cardboard at the end.

3. Season 1 of Laguna Beach available on MTV.com.

Four episodes later, I was in love with Stephen Colletti all over again.  I did not, however, still want to raid the girls' closets. Remember how stylish their clothes were back in 2004? Apparently trends have changed faster than I realized.

While watching, I also realized that my day-old ponytail fulfilled my 14-year-old dream of looking like Lauren Conrad.

I feel so cool now.

Less than three hours left in my twentieth year. See you in the morning for the big 2-1!

Did you watch Laguna Beach or The OC? How about The Hills? I'm positive I'm not alone on this one...

Stair Scare

I got locked in a stairwell today. It's definitely in the running for one of the top five most embarrassing moments of my life, if not the top two. How did such a thing occur?

During class, a combination of boredom and Awake tea sent me on a bathroom break. The ladies' room on the third floor was being cleaned, so I headed for the back stairs of the building in order to head up to the fourth. On the door to the fourth floor, however, I found a sign that read "No Entry: Please Use Doors on 3rd or 7th Floor."

Okay. I headed back down to the third floor, planning to just use the front stairs, only to find that door locked, as well. WTF? I walked down to the ground floor, where I discovered an ominous "FIRE EXIT ONLY, ALARM WILL SOUND UPON OPENING" notice. No go. Then I hiked up to the seventh floor, trying each door along the way. All were locked. Even better? So was the seventh floor. Construction, apparently.

I started panicking a bit as I walked back down to the third floor, determined to bust the door open. I mean, wasn't this a bit of a safety hazard? Not to mention, I still had to go to the bathroom. In the end, I knocked my knuckles off for a solid five minutes before someone in the third-floor hallway finally got around to letting me out. They seemed both amused and confused by my lame attempts at an explanation. Seeing as I'd been gone for a solid 15 minutes by this point, I willed my bladder into submission and sheepishly re-entered class. Hopefully I won't be known as the girl who clearly got constipated on the first day of class. Meh.

Needless to say, after that ordeal smack-dab in the middle of a 6 hour class block, I wasn't in the mood to cook dinner when I got home...

Monster bowls of cereal are always a good option, though :)

I combined Cheerios, a diced apple, a sliced banana and a scoop of vanilla Sun Warrior, then topped it all off with almond milk.

Chocolate to melt the stress away...

Hopefully an evening reading some really dull articles for a required class will help me to forget the embarrassment. 'Night, all!

Please feel free to share your most embarrassing story :)

Peanut Butter Pizza

Well, that treadmill run didn't happen. The freezing rain in our area is causing some slick roads, so I stayed at home this morning and headed out to our garage elliptical instead. The best part of exercising at home is that you can look like a total fool:

Ripped black fleece pants: left over from my high school stage-crew days. Stained blue sweatshirt: throwback to 8th grade lacrosse practice. Holey striped gloves: forgotten at our house by someone or other. White t-shirt underneath: worn as an ankle-length nightgown as a kid.

Yup, I looked good.

Post-workout, I snacked on some walnuts (x2)

And for lunch, I put together something new. It's been awhile since I made a tortilla pizza, but it was just what I wanted today.

Sweet and Savory Peanut Butter Pizza

 - one large tortilla (I used a Damascus Bakery WW Roll-Up)
 - one serving TJ's peanut flour, mixed with vanilla, sea salt, and water (enough for a sauce-like texture)
 - one medium apple
 - handful of baby carrots or carrot sticks
 - cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350*F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place tortilla on top. Cover evenly with peanut sauce. Cut apple into thin slices and chop carrots lengthwise; place atop peanut sauce and sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until edges are crisp and apples and carrots are softened.

'Twas delicious and easy! I removed the pizza after only 10 minutes in the oven, but it definitely needed a few more for crispness...other than that, it was perfect. On the side, I had a few more baby carrots and another handful of walnuts. Addictive, they are!

The positive side of this weather: it's perfect for an afternoon of reading. Hope you're having a great day!


If you had to make a pizza without red sauce or cheese, what ingredients would you use?

Five Things...

You didn't know about me :)

1. I was born at 11:11 am. 
     I actually didn't learn this until recently...which is ironic, because I always wish at 11:11 if I see it anyway. My mom probably wished at 11:11 for me to get the hell out. Wish granted.

2. I love the smell of gas. 
    The car stuff, not the, er, flatulent stuff. I remember being a little kid and inhaling it while my mom was filling the tank. I'm probably missing a few brain cells because of that.

3. I played the piano for 14 years.
    ...but haven't touched one since I went to college. It was somewhat of a requirement to growing up in my parents' house.

4. I don't like being wet.
    Showering is okay (thankfully), but pools and the ocean? No, thank you. I have no idea where this characteristic comes from and I'm aware that it's entirely princess-like, but I just can't enjoy it.

5. I keep my fingernails awkwardly short (and I have horrible cuticles, I know).
    I'm convinced it's a result of all the piano, but I don't like any white tip. Toes are the same way. Every time I get my nails done the manicurist asks me if it hurts, and no, it doesn't- my nails are used to it!

Tell me something most people don't know about you!!

* * *

This morning, I tried something kinda different for breakfast: cold oats!

I know I've seen these in the blogworld, I just can't remember where (let me know if it was you!). Last night I made a pot with rolled oats, almond milk, cinnamon, banana and flax meal, then stuck it in the fridge overnight. This morning I added blackberries and a sprinkle of cinnamon, then microwaved them for 30 seconds just to take the chill off.

They were gummy yet yummy- a different texture from hot oats, but nonetheless delicious.

Photographed in our winter wonderland. We're definitely not in Florida anymore.

Off to BodyPump- it's been awhile since I've gone and I can't wait!