June 1, 2008

Ellen’s Goodbye BBQ, Columbia University Reunion, Day 2, and Parental Brunch

Posted by winningfriendswithsalad under Brunch, Dinner, Lunch | Tags: , , , , , |
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Whoo – get ready for a long post!

P and I headed out to Brooklyn on Saturday for Ellen’s Goodbye BBQ.  Unfortunately, it was raining and mucky all morning – so we had to move the party inside.  Everyone wanted to be on the blog – so there are quite a few cameos in this post.  Here’s was the initial spread:

More food came later.  What was paricularly interesting was the make-your-own strawberry shortcake spread:

Neat idea right? Plus homemade sangria, made by Brooke’s boyfriend Kyle (the thumbs-up in the picture):

Later, our friend Melissa brought a really delicious bean and avocado salad

The only thing was there were way too many sweet items, and not enough savory ones!  Everyone loves dessert!  Here was my plate: bean and avocado salad plus grapes.

I also split a cupcake with Peter:

Plus I tried a make-your-own strawberry shortcake, with my goofball friend Brooke in the background:

And here’s me with Ellen (I swear I don’t usually look this tall):

Our friends Rita and Bryan came and brought guacamole and Vegan ‘E’ cookies.  Here’s Rita and Ellen with the cookies:

I had one of these ‘E’ cookies. :)

On to our next activity! We headed up to Columbia campus for a cocktail and dinner, plus dancing and starlight reception.  Here was the main tent:

After we checked in, we went over to Peter’s class’s tent.  Here’s a shot of the inside of the tent:

And the tables:

I started out with a glass of white wine.  Here’s a shot of the bottle:

With my wine, I had 5 fruit kababs:

After some schmoozing and reminiscing (for Peter), we sat down to dinner.  Here’s my first plate, salad with blue cheese, plus a little latke:

With dinner, I had a cocktail: a whiskey sour.  I used to love these in college – they were definitely my drink of choice.

Then I went back for a second plate of salad and latke. :) The salad was sooo good, and the other options (fish, chicken, steak, etc) looked a little heavy – I knew my sweet tooth was going to get the best of me later (which it did!).

For dessert, I had a cherry cobbler:

This was really good – I split another one of these with P. :)

Then at the starlight reception, I had a glass of champagne and snacked on a bunch of chocolate desserts they had out.  YUM!  Of course I had to sample every type – amazing.  Then Peter and I danced like maniacs!  There was a live band playing old hits, and everyone was getting down!  I love live bands – they’re so festive!  It’s especially fun to see all the older people getting down and funky.  Soo sweet.  I definitely burned 300-500 calories easy.

So, to close the Columbia festivities, here’s the Columbia lion, the school mascot.  I think P really had fun being nostalgic and seeing old friends, so it was definitely a success.

P and I crashed at about 1 AM, and my parents called at 10:30 AM with a brunch invitation.  My parents, who live in Virginia, were up in NYC for my dad’s 35th Columbia Reunion and for their 30th wedding anniversary, which is this week as well!  The plan was to meet them up at a old Columbia hangout, the Hungarian Pastry Shop, at noon.

I knew I needed a AM workout after my day off yesterday, not to mention the extravagant dessert parade.  I booked it to the gym to get in a quick workout.  I did the stepmill and the treadmill with weights at full force!  Cardio smorgas = 427 calories burned. I wasn’t hungry when I woke up (never a good sign), but I knew I needed something in my stomach, so I had a banana before I left:

Pre Workout Snack was 125 calories, 32g carbs, 1g fat, and 1g protein.

We were a little late for brunch (whoops), but my parents had stopped for gelato, so I don’t think they minded!  P and my parents picked out pastries and then we headed to another Columbia haunt, The Heights, for brunch.  My mom and I started off with mimosas:

For an entree, I had the portabello mushroom with goat cheese and veggies sandwich, without bread, plus a huge salad of mesculun greens:

I only had a few forkfuls of the balsamic dressing.  Plus I had a complementary fruit cup:

Brunch was good, and it was great to see my parents!  P and my dad talked about Columbia the whole time, of course. :)   Brunch was estimated at 400 calories.

This afternoon the plan is to CHILL OUT.  We definitely need a rest after this weekend.  We also have another event for tonight.  Busy, busy, busy!

 

May 31, 2008

Columbia University Alumni Reunion, Day 1

Posted by winningfriendswithsalad under Dinner | Tags: , , , , |
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Hey all! Peter is still out partying the night away, but I’m home to do a quick post and then off to bed. This afternoon did not go as I would have hoped, in that I got stuck dawdling around the house, and then had to power errands run. I managed to get in a little cardio and weights at the gym, but not as much as I would have liked. It definitely would have put me in a better frame of mind if I had a good, hard workout under my belt before a party – but it was good enough. Cardio and weights = 300 calories burned.

FYI, I didn’t have a snack before my workout because my lunch was so heavy. I made the right call about that- I didn’t need one. My lunch held me through til dinner.

The agenda for tonight was dinner at Robert Emmett’s and then Casino Night at the Nokia Theater. So here’s the place cards at dinner:

I didn’t know this until I got to the reuinion: apparently Columbia University is made up of different branches: one is Columbia College, one is FU, the engineering school where P graduated from, and a couple others I don’t know the names of. So a bunch of the stuff tonight had ‘Columbia College’ written on it, which really tripped me up! My dad went to Columbia too, and actually graduated from Columbia College, so go figure. Every time P and my dad get together, all they talk about is Columbia. It’s nice that they have something in common. :)

Service at this resturaunt was TERRIBLE. But they had an open bar, so P was happy. :) I had a club soda and lime with dinner (sitting out the first round strategy). I started off with salad:

Sorry the photo was a bit blurry, I was trying to be discreet. Nothing special about this salad. For an entree, the choices were ravioli, chicken, or fish. I went with fish, which was a white fish. I think I made the right choice.

I don’t even think the fish was bathed in butter, so woohoo! I ate all the fish and veggies and none of the rice. Then for dessert, they had tirimisu:

This was good. Looking back, I don’t know if I should have finished this (which I did). Half would have been sufficient.

After dinner, we went to the Casino Night. Here’s me getting ready to play blackjack:

Everyone was given 1500 Columbia dollars to start with. P and I both cashed in 500 at the first blackjack table that looked ‘lucky’, whatever that means. Well, it turned out to be lucky! Peter’s pretty good, and our dealer didn’t know there was a 500 bet maximum, so within 20 min, we made over 15,000! Here are some pictures of the table:

On the left is P sticking the red card into the back of the deck. Right is the dealer shuffling.

With the Columbia dollars, you can buy Columbia gear: bags, cups, mugs, etc. As soon as I walked through the casino door and saw the spread, I knew what I wanted: a Columbia sweatshirt! (It should be noted that this was the most expensive item, of course.) Well, after 20 min at our lucky table, that baby was mine! Here’s me in my new favorite sweatshirt:

:)

Anyway, back to food. Here was the spread at the casino night:

To the right there is a huge veggie basket, with a pretty good variety of items. Unfortunately, my sweet tooth was on overdrive, so I mostly stuck to this:

I sampled all of these. Possibly twice. Soo good.

I also had a club soda and vodka at the Casino night to get my mojo flowing. :P

So that was the first event of the reunion. Definitely a splurge for me, but I didn’t do any permanent damage. I’m not going to attempt a calorie count, but I know it was over my needs. Since I kind of let myself eat whatever I wanted today, I’m going to have to be a little stricter with myself tomorrow. Two days in a row of poor eating will leave a very sad Kate on the third day. Tomorrow the plan is to hit the gym first thing in the AM, bake treats for the BBQ, attend the BBQ, and then attend the Columbia reunion, day 2: dinner and dancing under the stars. It’s going to be a loooong day – I better get some sleep!

 

May 27, 2008

The Quintessential Dinner

Posted by winningfriendswithsalad under Dinner, Snack | Tags: , , , , , |
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Hey guys! My sunburn kicked in full force this afternoon, and I could barely move, let alone go to the gym. :( Two days in a row without the gym is unheard of for me, so I’m a little bummed. Although I feel that I’m at a place with my lifestyle where two days sans gym doesn’t equal ‘falling off the wagon’ or a huge failure on my part. I’m secure enough in myself and my dedication to my health that I know two days don’t define me. I hope I’m feeling better tomorrow – I’m definitely ready to be back in the workout groove!
Peter slept the day away, with an early early early morning flight and no sleep last night. So I cleaned the apartment and caught up on magazines – definitely a restful holiday. At some point in the afternoon I went out and got some snacks for us. I had a Luna bar:

And then a bit later I had a whole wheat tortilla with a tbsp almond butter:

Snacks were 450 calories, 57g carbs, 20g fat, and 19g protein.

For Peter’s welcome back dinner, we went to a reader-recommended restaurant, Quintessence.  Many thanks to Margherita for the thoughtful recommendation!  (Hi Margherita!)  Quintessence is located in the east village in a tiny little space on a tiny little street.  Very sweet.  To start, P and I split the chip and dip platter:

This was ’spicy tomato-cilantro salsa, dairy-free sour cream and guacamole served with home-made corn chips and flax crackers’. The crackers were good, and the guacamole was great!  For an entree, I had the Scallion Roll:

I had two of the four rolls.  These were ‘light yet satisfying nori rolls filled with scalion creme cheese, avocado, bell pepper, cucumber, caramelized onion, tomato and sprouts.’ These were really tasty – I’m going to have the other two rolls for lunch tomorrow.  And for dessert, P and I split the dessert platter:

From top left, clockwise: Chocolate Pecan Pudding Cake, Coconut Banana Creme Pie, Chia Seed Pudding, and Lemon Yam Cake.  They all sounded delicious, but both P and I were really disappointed – none of them were that good!  The best one was the Lemon Yam Cake, and even that wasn’t great.  P was so disappointed that he stopped for a Cookies and Cream milkshake on the way home (which I stole a few sips from). :)

I’m estimating dinner at 600 calories. Well, I’ve certainly had a restful holiday – I hope you have too!  Night!

 

May 21, 2008

Del Posto Wrap Up and More Ezekiel

Posted by winningfriendswithsalad under Breakfast, Dinner | Tags: , , , , |
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Del Posto was A.MA.ZING!  It was such a special evening!  But first let me apologize for the lack of pictures on this post.  Yesterday afternoon got away from me, and Peter would have killed me if I pulled out my camera at the super fancy restaurant.  Sorry!

Yesterday afternoon, I grabbed two stressed induced handfuls of organic teddy grahams from the company stash.  I hate it when I do that – it’s completely mental – I was full from lunch and going to a great dinner…grr.  Ah well, weight loss has ups and downs.  Yesterday I read that weight loss is like tennis: even great tennis players lose points – that doesn’t matter.  It only matters whether you win more points than you lose.  I like that analogy – takes some of the pressure off. ~200 calories.

After work I went to Chelsea Piers - I’ve decided that Chelsea Piers is so amazing it deserves to be in pink. :)   On my way to the pool, I actually ran into my membership consultant – she was so nice – she knew me by name, asked if I needed anything, seemed genuinely concerned that I was happy.  Point, Chelsea Piers!  I swam for about 45 min, give or take.  First off, the pool is BEAUTIFUL.  Secondly, it felt soooo amazing to be in the water.  Now I remember why I loved it so much as a kid!  It was cool too, to see my pilates training impact my swimming technique and really take it to a whole new level.  I could feel my arms and legs stretching and lengthening with each stroke.  It was awesome!  I’m totally hooked.  I also got to use the whirlpool after my swim.  I put my hurty shin right up to the jet, and it felt so great.  Today, it doesn’t hurt nearly as much.  Point, Chelsea Piers!

After swimming and some errands around the apt, Peter and I met at Del Posto.  He’s leaving today for a long weekend (coming back on Monday) and wanted to have a special dinner out.  I wanted to split an appetizer, get an entree, and split a dessert.  It’s easier to get more courses at fancier restaurants without overdoing your calories because the portions are so much smaller – you just have to be careful about what it is your ordering and how it’s prepared.  But Peter wanted to get the five course tasting menu to really experience the restaurant – PLUS, he wanted me NOT to calorie count.  Well, we went back and forth for a good 15 min, until I gave in.  Who knows if/when we’ll be back to this amazing restaurant – and he was right, I really did want to experience it.

Again, I’m sorry about the pictures, but here’s what I had (remember, these are all tiny portions):

  • INSALATA di Primavera, Ricotta Glassata & Perilla
  • ORECCHIETTE with Lamb Neck Sausage, Morels & Spring Onion
  • Sheep’s Milk Ricotta NUDI with Sweet Pea Puree, Preserved Lemon & Tellicherry
  • Tomato & Cerignola Braised TUNA with Chipotle & Avocado
  • Chocolate Ricotta TORTINO with Toasted Sicilian Pistachios & Extra Virgin Olive Oil Gelatto

I also had a glass of wine.  I can’t even describe how amazing these dishes were.  Just incredible.  Not to mention there were 20 billion waiters, 5 different table settings, complementary appetizers, complementary cookies served with dessert, and the amazing views.  Just an amazing and very special night.

Since our dinner reservation didn’t start until 9:15, we were home at midnight, so a morning workout was out, boo.  Peter needed help packing, so I did that until I was running late.  Then I realized I had no readily available fruit for my oatmeal, boo.  So I grabbed an Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin muffin and headed out the door.  At work, I topped it with two tbsp almond butter.

I had it with about 3/4c of hemp milk:

Breakfast was 448 calories, 57g carbs, 19g fat, and 17g protein.

I’m trying to get lunch with P this afternoon before his flight, but we’ll see if it happens.  As much as I’ll miss him it will be nice to have some alone, quiet time this week/weekend.  Plus, I’ll be able to really focus on my eating and exercise.  He can be a distraction sometimes. :P   Have a great day!

 

May 4, 2008

Family Fun

Posted by winningfriendswithsalad under Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch | Tags: , |
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Sorry for the late post! Like I mentioned last night, I went to a family get together in Connecticut today. I found out late last night that my little sisters and dad were coming up from Virginia! It was so great to see everyone!

My plan was to hit the gym before catching the 10:07 train at Grand Central, but after 4 days of waking up at 6:30 straight, my brain/body weren’t having it. I snoozed through my alarm and woke up with only enough time to get ready and go. While I was rushing around like a mad woman, P was gracious enough to prepare my oatmeal. Now, maybe I’ve just been doing it for a while but I think preparing oatmeal is a snap: water, milk, oatmeal, spices, banana, heat, eat. But P was appalled when I started explaning the steps to him – he said it was such a complicated process for such a simple food. So here’s the super complicated oatmeal that P kindly prepared for me (in a to-go container so I could eat it in the taxi on the way to GC):

Breakfast was 380 calories, 60g carbs, 12g fat, 13g protein.

So on to the food! Parties, especially family parties (which usually last for 7 hrs+ in my family) have definitely been a weakness for me in the past. My usual m.o. would be to stuff myself with every appetizer in sight and then have a normal sized meal and dessert!! I would have to roll myself out of this events sometimes. I knew I would do better at this event, but I didn’t know how much better. I totally rocked the socks off this party. I didn’t touch a single appetizer – and what’s more – I wasn’t even tempted! They just didn’t appeal to me…and it REALLY didn’t appeal to me to feel stuffed and uncomfortable. The best part is that it was soo worth the wait. Lunch was excellent!

I started off with a plate of the buffet highlights:

A huge serving of spinach salad with strawberries on the upper right. This salad had the most amazing dressing. I meant to get the recipe from my aunt before I left, but now I’ll have to shoot her an email. I must have this recipe! Then a delicious orzo mix with grilled vegetables on the upper left, followed by about three ounces of chicken down below. The chicken was fairly dry, but I unfortunately finished all of it.

I had to go back for more spinach salad; the dressing was AMAZING.

A few hours later, we had cake:

This cake was much better than last night (cake twice in two days – what a lush!). It was a chocolate chip cake, with a chocolate mousse in the middle, and a vanilla frosting. The vanilla frosting was the best part. I managed to eat all of this but a tablespoon of vanilla frosting. I’m estimating lunch at 850 calories.

After the party, I went to dinner with a smaller group of family at a dim resturaunt, and none of my pictures came out! I’m sorry! But for the record, I had a spinach salad with grilled vegetables. I’m estimating dinner at 250 calories.

I’m exausted!! I’m off to bed! Night!