i’m not going to lie, i’m really sad that our wedding is over. i can’t believe that more than 3 months after, i’m still so sad. sad that’s it’s just a memory now instead of my greatest dream. i know that we have many many more dreams to dream together and it’s just the beginning but that was one that i held onto for so so long. i wished for it, i prayed for it, i hoped for it every day for the past 8 years, and probably a little bit before that too. i always wanted it to be him.
i guess now i continue to hope that we have a long happy love-filled life together. that’s one hope i’ll always have.
it’s week 1 of football season and eagles are playing the rams. [note that as i write this the game is on in the background and i say “eagles are playing the…” mike says “st. louis…” i shrug “i don’t know” mike says “rams.” thank you.]
to keep me occupied during this week’s game, i will make note of all the silly things mike screams at the tv during the game.
two mins in: “god dammit! that didn’t take long”
10 mins later: “come on baby, come on baby”
[alright this might get too inappropriate…]
football feast week 1: pepperoni calzone and pepperoni/spinach calzone. and yuengling of course.
this was delicious. i started reading for class shortly after eating and was falling asleep on the couch before half time. so far, getting into football is going great. goal for next week: stay awake for the whole first half.
we had a really nice date at the nationals game last night. we arrived to a sunny stadium around 4:45.
doesn't he look handsome?
i was not prepared for the sun because it looked like this for past few days in DC.
it was really warm when we got there and i considered getting a t-shirt to change into because i was wearing a thick sweater. i walked into the team store and realized my allegiance to the philadelphia phillies when i got anxiety at the thought of buying another team’s t-shirt.
i didn’t get a shirt.
i’m sure you’re wondering why we got to the ballpark at 4:45. we had tickets to batting practice and got to go down onto the field to watch the teams warm up. it was pretty neat but we were totally out of place. the other people that were down there were dressed to the nines in nationals gear and were whipping out sharpies and baseballs for autographs. and there mike and i are kinda standing back, wearing normal clothes, probably looking like we’re too cool for school. though now that i think back on it, there was a group of women hanging around that weren’t geared up either. and they were wearing heels. i mean hello.
it wasn’t our team but it was cool nonetheless and we did get to see jayson werth up close so that was exciting for 45 seconds. i was joking with mike that if it was the phillies he’d be going nuts. he was yep and so would you: you’d run up to chase and say “chase me utley.” uh, no. i don’t think so. that’d probably be mike. (but after googling him to remember what he looks like, i may retract that statement.)
after batting practice we did a lap around the concourse, got a pretzel, then some beers and stood at a table overlooking the field.
i love that part of the park overlooks the river
after our beers, it was time for some food. shake shack at the ball park, yes please!
we split a burger and cheese fries. they were sooo good.
we sat at a high top table and just ate and relaxed. it was really fun. i’ve never been to a game that early before to hang out and enjoy the park and the weather.
then we went down to our seats for the first few innings.
we went to get a snack at the end of the third inning and after i waited in the shake shack line for 20 mins to get a milkshake, we decided just to head home. before i got in the shake shack line, mike got this:
yeah, i know.
on our way out of the park, mike stopped to hit a home run.
we had a nice long weekend in ocean city, md with mike’s parents, his brother, and his brother’s girlfriend, gayle. we stayed in a beautiful ocean-view condo right on the boardwalk. the weather was perfect: sunny and warm (but not hot) with a nice breeze.
we enjoyed the sun, the sand, and the boardwalk food.
highlights of weekend include drinks with dave and gayle on the boardwalk, my first fried oreo, reading a few chapters of pillars of the earth without falling asleep, multiple icre-cream cones, sweet corn on the cob, and dinner at uncle george’s house on the bay.
we all wished we had one more day but mother nature made it a little bit easier for us to leave when she brought a cool rain this morning.
i have a theory: the way you cook parallels the way you live your life.
for example: mike and i always follow recipes. in life, we play by the rules. we’re not big risk-takers.
mike likes to get everything prepped and ready to go before he begins cooking. he cleans up as he goes and likes to do the dishes as soon as the meal is finished. in life, mike likes to explore all the options before he begins. he makes sure that everything is set before he makes a big decision. in school he would work on papers little by little, never waiting to the last minute or pulling an all-nighter.
when i cook, things tend to get a little messy as i jump right in and figure it out as i go. lately, i’ve been much better about reading through the recipe and collecting the ingredients up front but my natural way is to do everything as i go. in life, i have a general plan or place i’m working toward but i tend to have a lot of things going at once and i figure it out as i go. when it comes to cleaning up after a meal, i like to relax for a bit after the meal and take a break before i tackle the dishes. in life, i’ll have an experience and need some time before i’m able to process it and move past it.
so what do you think? how do you cook? does the way you cook parallel your life?
i love fridays. i love fridays even more when i have no plans. and i honestly can’t remember the last friday that i didn’t have something to do. because of this, i was really looking forward to tonight and it ended up to be a really nice evening. mike is at the nationals game with some buddies, so i had the whole night to myself. what a treat 🙂
after a stressful few days at work, i was ready to relax with a pedicure. boy, was it relaxing. i thoroughly enjoyed the foot soak, chair massage, exfoliation, and an extra long foot and leg massage i think the pedicurist felt bad after she asked me if i had a baby and i said no. hey, i’ll take it. it. felt. so. good. i flipped through some magazines as my nails were getting painted and as they dried, randomly finding an article by gretchen rubin, (i highly recommend her book the happiness project), and learning that ben and jen are having another baby (what a great celebrity couple, huh?).
i left the nail place completely relaxed and headed to 2amys for a pizza to go.
i enjoyed the 2amys with arugula while watching guiliana and bill.
then i cleaned our kitchen, took out the trash, and packed for the weekend: we’re headed to ocean city, md with mike’s family tomorrow.
mike will be so pleased when he comes home and sees that we’re all packed for the beach. this is one of the little things i try to do to make him happy. typically i pack the morning of and getting out the door in the morning is quite a process and makes us both stressed. nothing like starting a long drive huffing and puffing. fingers crossed that we will get out the door with ease in the morning (and that mike feels moved to reward me with breakfast at open city).
in addition to the standard three meals a day, i also have two snacks every day. i love my 10:00 snack and my 3:00 snack. since the abs diet i try to make sure my snacks have either protein or fiber to fill me up.
my go-to snack right now is chocolate pudding with a tablespoon of chunky peanut butter. sweet, savory, and the peanut butter gives the protein that i need. yum!
i’m always looking for new snack ideas. what are your go-to snacks?
up until last august i’d been trying to lose weight for as long as i can remember. i remember in middle school running on the treadmill in my parent’s bedroom at 6:00 in the morning while my dad was still sleeping. i spent most of college wanting to lose weight–going to the gym multiple days a week, trying (loosely and without guidance) weight watchers. i thought about and talked about my weight a lot, to mike, to my mom, and to friends until one day last year i decided “if this is my body, this is my body.”
this cookbook is filled with great recipes. see photos below.
then two weeks later mike says “i found this diet in men’s health called the abs diet. you can sign up online for pretty cheap. i think i’m going to do it.” i panic, thinking “what?? i just came to terms with my body and am learning to accept it and appreciate it for what it is, i can’t go on a diet/don’t want to be on a diet and concentrate on every single thing i eat. but if mike’s on a diet, we’re both on a diet.” i had serious anxiety about this. after talking to a friend at work, i decided to embrace it and go for it. what did i have to lose? weight? ok.
lime-grilled turkey tacos with avocado salsa
so mike and i started the abs diet. he signed up online and had access to a ton of recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. he took care of all the meal planning and grocery shopping (i know, a dream, right?) and we started to eat better. before i knew it mike was saying “next week will be one month on the abs diet. can you believe it?” “really? wow, no i can’t. i don’t feel deprived or hungry. this is great.”
i didn’t feel deprived or hungry because the abs diet doesn’t set out to starve you. in fact, it’s almost the opposite.
pillars of the abs diet:
fill up on powerfoods (whole grains, lean meats, low fat dairy, fruits, vegetables)
eat 5 small meals throughout the day
it’s about how you eat most of the time not all of the time (don’t deprive yourself)
"thinner mexican dinner:" lean ground beef, romaine, tomatoes, black beans, low fat cheddar, baked tortilla chips (though these are def. fried)
how i’ve changed as a result of the abs diet:
i choose foods that fill me up and give me fuel
i have a new awareness about how foods make me feel (energized, full, tired, groggy) and make food decisions based on that
i’m not tired all the time
i know when i’m full and stop when i get there (before, the abs diet i had two settings: hungry or completely stuffed)
i eat five times a day and make sure there is protein or fiber each time to fill me up
i don’t obsess about my weight or what i eat
i rarely find myself saying “ugh, i ate too much” or “i want to lose weight”
i’m able to listen to my body and give my body what it needs. if i’m really craving chocolate or salt, i have that. one time at lunch, i was really craving red meat so i chose a meal with steak in it.
i’ve lost 5-7 pounds and maintained my weight
whole wheat waffles with peanut butter and raspberries
i love pizza. like love. it’s definitely one of my favorite foods. i used to think it was really stupid and unoriginal when kids in middle school said pizza was their favorite food. i mean really? everyone’s favorite food is pizza, it’s hardly even a meal people. pick something like chicken or meatloaf for crying out loud. but now that i’m older and wiser and have had many different pizzas—greasy takeout pizza that you fold in half and the oil drips down your fingers, fast food pizza like domino’s or pizza hut, fancy pizzas, frozen pizzas, dessert pizzas—i can say that pizza is in my top 5 favorite foods. it may even be my answer to the question “if you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?” even though i hate that question. yep, i just love pizza.
today, my pizza world expanded just a little bit. or maybe significantly. probably significantly. because today, we made our first homemade pizza with our new pizza stone.
.
we made the dough and everything. it was super easy and delicious! the only tricky part was transferring the pizza from the cutting board we prepped it on to the pizza stone. we made two different pizzas: margherita and white with turkey sausage and peppers.
they were really really good. especially the margherita which you wouldn’t think would be so great because it’s so simple. but it’s probably the simplicity and the way the flavors of the buttery fresh mozzarella, sweet tomatoes, basil and garlic go together that make it so tasty.
i’m thinking pizza making is going to become a regular thing in our apartment. maybe a sunday afternoon/dinner thing. it was so fun, easy, tasty and filling. i’m excited to try out some new variations. our next one will be a toss up between meatball and trying to recreate the fresh fruit pizza from matchbox.
oh, and with these pizzas i accomplished one of my august goals. making a big weekend lunch from scratch, feeding people i love (amanda was here), sharing a delicious meal with friends, pizza, red wine, and completing a goal. does it get much better?
in the last couple of years i started craving girl time. time to catch up, to laugh, to vent, to chat about things. i’ve had a lot of girlfriend time in the last month with 3 girlfriend weekends in a row. i’m so lucky to have such amazing women to call my friends and so grateful that they came to DC to visit me. here’s some snapshots from the last 3 weekends:
there is nothing like catching up with a girlfriend over a good meal.
i believe that time with girlfriends is good for the soul.
sending love to all of my girlfriends. send some to yours too.
(photos from top: breakfast at open city, margaritas at cactus cantina, pizza at 2amys [shouldn’t all girlfriend weekends have great food?], organizing our closet buy putting christmas ornaments in our suitcases (brilliant, bridget!), more margaritas at cactus cantina, dessert pizza and steele pinot noir at matchbox, shopping, made cupcakes from one of our favorite blogs)
