Fried food and frying pans

After a week of traveling and excitement, it feels good to be home, drinking tea on the couch in my sweats.

Last night was the final hurrah of my jam-packed week. I met up with a few friends from my freshman year at Carnegie Mellon (I transferred to NYU as a sophomore) at the Frying Pan, an outdoor bar on the Hudson River in Chelsea.

The location is amazing, with views of the skyline and Jersey City across the river. Who doesn’t love being outside on a warm summer night?

Bay fries were a necessity. Nothing screams summer like fried food at midnight.

* * *

This morning, I woke up early for my internet installation appointment. After only a few hours’ sleep, an energizing breakfast was in order: Kashi GoLean, strawberries and almond milk.

Though my modem was good to go by10, my computer was refusing to cooperate with the activation software. I spent two hours on the phone sorting everything out, which made me frustrated and tense. Another bowl of cereal helped me pass the time:

As soon as the internet was up and running, I grabbed some lunch at Cosi and hit the road. I ordered my favorite hummus and veggie sandwich, with a baggie of baby carrots.

The drive home was absolutely painful. I missed my exit, forgot my EZ Pass and got stuck in massive amounts of traffic on I-95. I’ve never gotten lost while driving before, so I guess I was overdue for a few snafus. My iPod and a vegan tofu salad sandwich were necessary on the four-hour drive!

Of course, all’s well that ends well. I made it home just in time to catch the first episode of The Real Housewives of DC. It’s no New Jersey, but I’m a sucker for all of the housewives. Amazing how trash TV can totally turn your day around...

For dinner, I threw together a salad beast with a whole block of firm tofu, romaine, three heirloom tomatoes, half a cucumber and hummus.

On the side I had some roasted peanuts and grapes:

And of course, chocolate for dessert! I’ve missed my nightly slab of the good stuff. This was Whole Foods 365 dark chocolate with almonds.

Tonight I’ve got a hot date with my reader and an early bedtime. Hope you all have a great start to your weekend!

When it comes to driving, do you have a good sense of direction? I take after my dad in this respect- I very rarely get lost!

French fries- yay or nay? I’m usually a sweets girl, but I absolutely love fries J

PS- Check out my guest post on Angela’s blog!

Luke and Cammy's Wedding

Get ready for a serious amount of photos…

Last week, I headed down to Ocean City, New Jersey for my brother’s wedding. Luke and Cammy have been dating since they were 16, so it was no surprise when they got engaged a year and a half ago!

Everything was held at the Flanders Hotel, a gorgeous spot right on the Ocean City boardwalk. Our bridesmaids’ suite looked straight onto the rides!

After a hectic day of last-minute preparations, the festivities began with the rehearsal dinner on Friday evening.

Once the actual rehearsal was over, everyone dug into an Italian meal. The grilled veggie antipasto was my favorite part- I loaded up my plate several times with portobello, yellow squash, zucchini, eggplant, roasted red peppers, asparagus and garlic crostini.

Dinner was served buffet-style. There was green salad with vinaigrette and bow-tie pasta with pesto:

Tricolor tortellini stuffed with sausage, sun-dried tomatoes and cheese:

And a carving station with rolls:

I filled up my plate with everything but tortellini and roast. Give me carbs and veggies and I’m one happy camper J

While everyone ate, I “roasted” my brother with a slideshow of the most embarrassing childhood pictures I could find. He may be bigger and stronger, but I definitely have the upper hand in our relationship…

Dessert was a mouthwatering spread of tiramisu, cannoli and chocolate mousse in mini ice cream cones. Obviously, I was powerless before this assortment and sent myself into a sugar coma with a slice of tiramisu, two chocolate mousse cones and two cannolis. That’s how it’s done, my friends.

* * *

Saturday morning, the bride and five of us bridesmaids had hair appointments at a local salon. Muffins and mimosas kicked off the big day!

It took nearly four hours to complete six updos, but the results were worth it. Approximately three cans of hairspray and two hundred bobby pins later, my hair looked like this:

All the pretty ladies:

By the time we arrived back at the hotel, it was time to get ready! The florist delivered our bouquets, a combination of blue hydrangeas and white rosebuds.

It’s definitely true that everyone looks radiant on their wedding day. Cammy was beautiful!

Before the ceremony, Cammy gave each of the bridesmaids a sapphire earring and pendant set in a different shade of blue. Mine was the palest- it almost looks white. I love it!

The ceremony itself was short and sweet. I walked down the aisle with Nic, Cammy’s older brother. We both commented on how surreal it was to watch our siblings get married- I was tearing up at the altar.

While the wedding guests headed off to cocktail hour, the bridal party went to the beach and boardwalk for photos.  It was adorable how many little girls stopped to stare at Cammy in her gown!

Though we missed out on the hors d’oeuvres, the wedding coordinator brought us a few before we made our entrance. We had mini slices of Mack and Manco’s pizza (a shore favorite), plus vegetables and crackers in Romanian eggplant dip (one of Cammy’s family recipes). After stuffing ourselves (seriously, I didn’t know 14 people could annihilate two pizzas that quickly), we headed into the ballroom for the reception.

The rest of the night was one of the best times of my life!

Dinner began with a green salad topped with fried goat cheese and walnuts.

The entrée choices were Chilean sea bass and crab-stuffed fillet mignon. Guess what I picked?

It was perfection- the fish was baked with breadcrumbs and came with a mountain of mashed potatoes and roasted veggies. Instead of serving an individual dessert, each table got several platters of mini-pastries.

Of course, the real piece de resistance was the wedding cake! Four tiers of red velvet, topped with vanilla buttercream.

I only had a few bites between songs before my plate was whisked away. Definitely a bummer, but the fun was definitely more important than the food.

The reception was over at 11:30, but the party definitely was not. The bridal party had rented a suite to keep the fun going all night. 

More Mack and Manco’s pizza. To put it into perspective, that table seats eight people, and the box took up half of it.

Overall, it was an incredible night. My brother will only get married once, and I was so touched and happy to be able to celebrate with him. I’m glad to welcome a new sister into our family J

You Are Beautiful

Hello, dear bloggies! I’m back, and how I’ve missed you! This past week has been crazy, but amazing. Between my brother’s wedding, a trip to Cape Cod and coming to NYC to support Caitlin on the Today Show, I decided to take a little break from the computer. It was great, but I have a lot to share!

I’ll start with the most recent: the Today Show this morning!

I got into NYC from the cape late last night, so waking up at 5:30 was a little rough, though I couldn’t wait to get to see everyone at Rockefeller Center! I had a bowl of Kashi GoLean with frozen blackberries and almond milk for breakfast (it’s been a week since I had cereal, can you believe?!):

By the time I got to midtown at 6:30, a group of bloggers was already assembled. Despite security taking a few of our signs (they claimed that there were too many repeat posters), we staked out a prime piece of real estate at the corner of the barricades. I’ve always sworn I would never go to something as touristy as the Today Show, but it ended up being a ton of fun!

Bloggers

The two Rebeccas with their signs

Al Roker doing the weather

Me with Theodora from Losing Weight in the City

Caitlin was on at 10:30 and did an amazing job talking to Meredith. At the end of the segment, the crew outside focused in on our group- I’m pretty sure Sabrina got a close-up with her sign!

Representing Philly!

After the show, we all headed to Au Bon Pain. Since I was still pretty full from my cereal, I just had some pineapple chunks:

It was so great to get to know so many new bloggers! During breakfast we found out that the Operation Beautiful site actually crashed due to the amount of views, and that Caitlin’s book reached the top 1000 sellers on Amazon. So awesome, congrats to Caitlin!

After the show, I headed to the gym for a much needed workout. It’s been nearly a week since I had a good sweat sesh! I did half an hour of super intense intervals, followed by half an hour of free weights. It felt goooood J

The heat and humidity in the city definitely have a huge effect on my appetite, so I wasn’t too hungry for lunch. I stuck to some vegan tofu salad, a ton of sliced strawberries, and some peanut butter Puffins in almond milk.

Stay tuned for recaps from the past week!

Do you ever take a total break from the computer? I’m positively addicted when I’m at home, so it was definitely freeing not to have the internet for a few days.

Did you watch the Operation Beautiful segment this morning? What did you think?