Recent Meals + I’ve Grown Up So Much

This week is flying by!

The weather has been nice which has made for great running weather. I truly love running this time of year and won’t even mind when it gets even hotter! Early sunrises and warm weather are just the best for me as a morning runner.

I have a few recent meals to share today.

While I shared a photo of my Red Mango parfait in Monday’s post, what I didn’t point out was what was in the parfait.

I ordered my usual, the mixed berry parfait with original yogurt but normally, I sub the bananas for dark chocolate chips.

This time, they were out of dark chocolate chips. There was a time when that would have upset me so much that I would have canceled the whole parfait order. This time, however, I said no problem I’ll just have the bananas then.

I’ve grown up so much, don’t you think?

Sushi is becoming a regular in my life again. While I will order and try different rolls, I always come back to spicy tuna naruto and peanut avocado rolls.

My friend and I both had the spicy-sweet peppers in our salads from Chopt and the peppers were so spicy that we couldn’t speak at times while eating. I think I have to stop the spicy peppers in my Chopt order.

I made this simple dinner after work one night when I needed something fast. I love chickpea pasta in sauce and a sprinkle of cheese. So simple and so good.

One more thing for today! I have a few Levain Bakery cookies in my freezer and get excited at night to take one out to have a few bites. The cookies are so big and thick that only a few bites are enough to make me happy.

Workout Recap + Red Mango

Last week’s workout recap spoke about how I ran five days with higher mileage than usual and now this week, I only have two runs to report.

It happened this way for no real reason (well, rainy days added to it!) but I’m hoping to run a bit more again this coming week.

Before getting to my workouts, I just wanted to share that I had a Red Mango parfait for the first time in a long time. It looks so pretty that I just needed to include it in today’s post. 🙂

Last Week’s Workouts

Monday – 3 Mile Walk + 23 Min Super Charged Yoga/Pilates Flow (bodyweight)

I had run three days in a row with eight miles just yesterday so today was not a run day.

Tuesday – 3 Mile Run + 10 Min Arms (1 lb weights)

Wednesday – 30 Min Peloton Barre (3 lb weights) + 30 Min Walk

I hadn’t done a barre workout in a while! It was fun to do again.

Thursday – 38 Min Yoga/Pilates Flow (bodyweight)

Rainy morning.

Friday – 3.5 Mile Walk

I chose to walk today but knew I would run tomorrow.

Saturday – 7 Mile Run

It was a cloudy/slightly drizzly day so I chose to run at home vs the beach. Seven miles for today which felt really great!

Sunday – Melissa Wood Health Combo

Another rainy morning!

• 40 Min Yoga/Pilates Flow (1 lb weights + resistance band)
• 9 MIn Arms (1 lb weights)

So Many Recent Meals To Share Today (Including Red Mango Parfait!)

I missed last Wednesday’s post about food so for this week, I made sure to capture a few extra meals to share with you.

There’s only one slice of pizza in today’s post. The amount of vegetables that they pile on this whole wheat pizza from Monte is beyond believable. You can barely find the whole wheat crust under all of those vegetables but trust me, it’s there!

Mung bean noodles?

I don’t really know what a mung bean is but they make a good noodle. While all beans are excellent for health, here are 10 health benefits of mung beans if you are interested.

On the topic of beans, I’m still eating Banza chickpea pasta regularly.

If you ask me, Banza pasta, which is made from chickpeas, tastes like regular pasta in terms of texture and taste. Although, I don’t eat regular pasta all that often so don’t go by me if you are a regular pasta connoisseur.

I used to make the below sweet potato stir fry all of the time for dinner. Somehow I not only fell out of the habit of making the sweet potato stir fry but forgot all about how often it was a part of my dinner rotation.

This stir fry is really just vegetables stir-fried in the pan with Island Soyaki sauce from Trader Joe’s with the addition of chickpeas, roasted sweet potatoes, and then topped with avocado. The sweet potatoes are used instead of rice but go ahead and add rice too! I’ve done that and the texture combo is great. It’s a great dinner actually to have the night before a long run (if you can handle vegetables, which I can).

Recent Salads

Greek salad is always the answer when hungry.

I had this chopped salad from Town Bagel with honey mustard dressing on the side.

I’m pretty sure that I selected the following salad ingredients:

• Romaine
• Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Mushrooms
• Hearts of Palm
• Roasted Cauliflower
• Roasted Red Peppers
• Chickpeas
• Avocado

It was nice to eat inside Chopt for the first time since last year! I chose a different ingredient combination this time too and loved it so much that I went back again the next day for lunch!

• Romaine
• Spinach
• Roasted Chickpeas
• Cauliflower Tabouli
• Spicy Peppers
• Avocado
• Beets
• Hearts of Palm
• Pickled Onions
• Tzaziki Dressing

It was equally as nice to dine out at The Cheesecake Factory for the first time in a while for dinner. I went with my favorite bbq ranch salad (no chicken). Those onion strings are everything.

It’s so weird that dining out is what makes me feel so normal.

I saved the best for last…

Oh Red Mango, how I’ve missed you!

I hadn’t had a Red Mango parfait since before the pandemic! There aren’t many Red Mango locations left anymore but the one in Roosevelt Field is still open!

I was so happy to order my parfait for lunch. In case you forget what is in a Red Mango parfait, I order the mixed berry parfait and replace the bananas with dark chocolate chips so it’s strawberries, blueberries, chocolate chips, and granola. The granola is Nature’s Path Pumpkin Flax Granola. I know this because I did my research in the past to figure it out. 🙂

Who remembers my weekly obsession with Red Mango parfaits for lunch? Or when Red Mango asked me to write a review of their smoothies?

I hope to get back to eating Red Mango again now, especially as we get further into Spring and the warmer weather.

Friday Favorites (September 20, 2019)

Since I missed Wednesday’s post, I will share a few recent favorite foods in today’s Friday Favorites post.

First, though, we are SO CLOSE to hockey season — the offseason really flew by so quickly! We went to the preseason game Tuesday night at the Coliseum. Two weeks and counting until opening night —and my son’s 16th birthday is that weekend too – um, how did that happen? He will now be old enough for a learner’s permit to start driving my car? I don’t even understand. Can’t talk about it.

You know how I love my Islanders. I’m so excited for the games to get going.

I had to have my popcorn. Thankfully a popcorn vendor was walking around during the game because I still cannot locate the darn popcorn on the concourse. Makes a lot of sense, I know. Who can’t locate popcorn at a sporting event? Apparently, me. I cannot find it.

Who remembers my Maoz obsessed days? I had this Maoz bowl the other day. It was delicious!

And Red Mango! It’s so rare that I have Red Mango but every few months (in comparison to a few times a week as I used to in the past), I do have a parfait.

Fashion:

I love these Friday Favorites posts for the fashion. 🙂

So, I’ve been browsing cashmere sweaters this week.

The J.Crew Long-sleeve everyday cashmere crewneck sweater is a great idea. It comes in 24 colors so there’s something for everyone! I will definitely grab a shade of pink (or two shades of pink) plus the lavender, and a black I bet.

Then there’s the cashmere V-neck Boyfriend sweater in navy with stars.

I’ve had my eye on this star-drawstring hooded cashmere sweater for a while. In the black or the pale pink.

And then, I branched out to hoodies while browsing sweaters. How can it be that I don’t have enough hoodies? I want a pullover hoodie, not a zip-up. I live in this pull over hoodie, still, from my son’s Bar Mitzvah, by the way. These sweatshirts were worth every penny that I spent. My son will still spot some kids wearing his sweatshirt! Makes me so happy. 🙂

Anyway, I found this leopard trim hoodie. And I really like this Wildfox patchwork heart hoodie too.

I have matching black sweatpants with white stars down the legs to go with this star print hoodie so maybe that would be cute.

Okay, and I know I just said I want a pull over but I am not opposed to trying the lighter version of the Scuba hoodie from lululemon. The pink is pretty. Or maybe I will try the Scuba pullover. I have one Scuba zip-up hoodie but never really loved it. Recently, I did pull it out of my closet and like it a little more (I wore it one morning when I went for a walk), I just always felt it was too thick which is why the lighter one might be better for me.

This Street to Shore hoodie looks nice but its final sale so make the decision carefully.

[show_shopthepost_widget id=”3732246″]

Running Story + Workouts From The Week

I held off sharing my workouts until today because I ran yesterday instead of Saturday. My intention was to run on the treadmill Saturday morning but I woke up completely not in the mood and I certainly wasn’t running outside because it was too cold for me.  Sunday’s forecast was sunny and above freezing < – weather I can handle this time of year.

Quick running-related story before getting to my workouts from the week!

Every so often I get a facial and my esthetician used to be a runner. When I say used to be, I mean, she used to run all the time for years and train for races…until one day she decided she didn’t want to run anymore.

So she stopped. Just like that. And took up yoga.

Now, when she first told me this (well over a year ago) I did not understand and asked her a ton of questions. How do you go from running all the time  — to not? How and why would you choose to NOT run anymore?

How does this happen, and it would certainly never happen to me!

She explained it so matter of factly, so confident in her feeling of, “One day I just decided this isn’t what I want to do any longer so I won’t and that’s it.”

I understand now.

While I’m not saying that I feel this way about running (not at all!), what I am saying is, I can finally relate to how it can happen.

We grow. We change. What we once loved to do may not be what we love to do anymore. Or, we can still enjoy it but feel like it’s not what we should do as often.

I do still love to run but I’ve learned over the course of the last year (as you already know) that it’s not what I want/need to do as often or as much anymore.

What’s important to me is that I remain active. Active doesn’t always mean running. Especially in the winter! Gosh it’s cold out there.

I guess my point in sharing this story is to reinforce the fact that what we enjoy to do is allowed to change. As I watch the internet explode with runners choosing to increase their mileage rather than ever decrease, I think it’s important to remember you don’t have to do that too. At some point you may say, hey I don’t want to run as much. I’m tired. I need a break. I want to do something different. I am not getting the same results (mentally and/or physically) and something needs to change for me.  

And that’s perfectly okay. The world will not end. In fact, it may open up a whole new set of experiences for you.

Allow life to happen, change, adjust, shift and evolve, even if it means you run less.

So for this week, I ran three days. Three days (rather than four days) is probably my maximum for the winter weeks when I can’t get outside. I refuse to push myself to run on the treadmill more than three days a week and have learned that I really enjoy and benefit from other types of workouts.

And here’s my Red Mango parfait from Saturday just to break up all this text before getting to my workouts. 🙂

Monday – 45 Min Pure Barre

It was maybe 5 degrees outside which meant I was not even walking over to my gym — way too cold. Pure Barre On Demand did the trick for today!

Tuesday – 5 Miles (treadmill)

Overall this was a great, effortless treadmill run. Nothing formal about it, just ranged my speed up to 8.2. One issue — I HIT THE RED STOP BUTTON BY ACCIDENT with less than a mile to go. I kind of wanted to cry in that moment if you want to know the truth because the treadmill makes you stop completely and totally restart. Whatever, I got over it. But still! The worst.

Wednesday – In The Gym

I won’t run two days in a row on the treadmill so I mixed things up for today.

Here’s what I did:

• 20 Min Elliptical
• 10 Min Treadmill Incline Walking

Squats/Lunges/Free Weights Upper Body (didn’t spend a lot of time on this, just a few sets of each)

Here’s a picture of the gym in my community to remind you what it looks like.

Thursday – 30 Min Treadmill

More than 30 minutes was just not going to happen today, because I didn’t feel like it. However, these 30 minutes were total effort which to me, is what counts.

I finished right over 3.50 miles — nothing specific during the time but I alternated my inclines with speed throughout the workout but nothing set or specific to share. Side note: I always run on 1% incline. I’m fine at 2%, 3% is still comfortable but once I hit 4%, I’m working much harder.

Friday – 30 Min Pure Barre

Saturday – In The Gym

Good thing I woke up not interested in running because I misplaced my earbuds! Ugh, I did want to go to the gym so I had to do so without my music but it was okay. The gym had music on and no one was in there so it was relatively quiet.

Here’s what I did:

• 10 min treadmill incline walking
• 20 min elliptical
• 10 min treadmill run (1.25 mile total)
• 5 min walking on treadmill to cool down

Sunday – 5 Miles (outside!)

It felt nice to get outside with a new pair of earbuds. I let my pace fall where it wanted – no added effort beyond telling myself we are running today, not walking.

How was your week in workouts? Did you run outside or inside? Or both?

Have you been running less than usual this winter?

How has your workout routine changed over the years? Do you run more or less?

 

Less Miles + Overly Cautious + Red Mango (workout recap)

 

I swear I’m not trying to permanently move my workout recaps to Monday mornings! It’s just working out this way right now!

I saved my workout recap for today mostly because I ended up running yesterday instead of Saturday. I never run on Sunday’s which usually makes a Sunday workout recap post possible but since I did run yesterday, holding off for today made more sense.

Anyway, this week featured less miles, a Sunday run, and a few great Pure Barre workouts.

Less miles happened because at the start of the week, the top of my right foot felt a little bit weird. I realize that saying “a little bit weird” doesn’t describe the feeling very well but I can’t really figure out what else to say. My foot just felt a little weak or something to that effect and I believe it was from wearing/walking in sandals all weekend. Actually, I think it can always be the cumulative affect of wearing sandals so much all summer. Not really sure!

Regardless, I am NUTS about my feet and if I feel ANYTHING, I am not running.

If you asked my discomfort level on a scale of 1 – 10, it was at a 1 and I was totally fine by Tuesday evening.

I know I may sound a little ridiculous but it can’t ever hurt to be a little too cautious. It can however hurt if you run on something that bothers you and then cause yourself an injury! Sort of like dropping that shampoo bottle on my foot – it didn’t even hurt but it was bruised and the doctor said it was best NOT to run on it as to NOT cause an injury as the area was experiencing discomfort even if I didn’t really feel it. I really do believe it’s best to cautious of any weird feelings or discomforts so that they go away quickly rather than be stubborn, run on something that may bother you and then actually hurt yourself.

Before getting to my workouts, I want to share a pretty picture of my Red Mango parfait from Saturday. My craving for this parfait was equally matched by each delicious bite hitting the spot. The toppings to yogurt ratio were completely in sync. I was so happy, you have no idea. 🙂

Monday – 40 min Elliptical/free weights

There was a chance of downpours at any second so I headed over to the gym. Not in the mood for the treadmill (which I realized once I walked in), I opted for the elliptical. I can’t remember if my foot felt weird at this point yet. Just making note of that. It might have, but not really. 

Tuesday – 30 Min Elliptical/10 Min Pure Barre

My foot felt a little weird so I opted for the elliptical rather than put pressure on it with running. Then I chose my favorite 10 min Pure Barre workout: Seat & Abs.  It’s been my favorite 10 minute Pure Barre workout for years now!

Wednesday – 6 Miles

My foot felt all better today! Also! I chose to rotate my running shoes for the first time in a while. I figured that it was possible my feet could use the switch and this run felt really nice.

I ran outside (humidity felt lower) and got so lost in the miles that when it said I hit 5 miles, I had thought I was only at 4 – quite a surprise! I don’t glance at my pace or distance or anything, I just let Runkeeper chime in every mile so I really had no idea. I was too busy listening to music I guess to pay much attention! So as you can sense, this run went by really quickly.

Thursday – Pure Barre (50 min Arm workout)

One of my favorites because it’s super challenging!

Friday – 30 Min Run/30 Min Walk

It was so humid outside that 30 minutes of running was more than enough. I had time though so I continued with a walk until I was ready to go home.

Saturday – 30 Min Pure Barre/ Walk

In all honesty, I had my hair blown out yesterday which meant I couldn’t sweat it up with a run this morning. So, I swapped my weekend workout routine around so that I would run tomorrow and preserve my hair for one more day.

I chose a new 30 minute Pure Barre workout (which was so good! new exercises and pretty challenging!) and then headed outside for a walk. I think I was outside for an hour.

Sunday – 6 Miles

It wasn’t raining but looked like rain (story of our life here in NY lately) and was humid but not too humid. I had no plan for distance or anything today so somehow I ended up with 6 miles and some effort thrown in.

The weather is looking much better for this week with sun and lower humidity! I figure I will run this morning even though I ran yesterday and then figure out my routine for the rest of the week as I go. I don’t think yesterday’s run should throw me off much at all even though I am used to NOT running a Sunday. We shall see. Have a great week!

[bctt tweet=”Workout recap on the blog today featuring less miles, why I am overly cautious and my favorite Red Mango parfait! #running #run #workouts #redmango #fitfluential #purebarre” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

How was your weekend? Best thing you ate?

How were your workouts last week? Did the weather throw you off schedule at all?

What’s on your workout agenda for today?

Recent Meals + Power Bowls + Food Links Of Interest

 

Since I missed a weekend recap on Monday, I have a few meals from the weekend plus what I’ve been eating over the last couple of days to discuss today.

This week has been a bit weird so far, by the way. My son came home sick literally 20 minutes after he arrived at school on Monday and then school was closed yesterday due to snow! He is feeling better thankfully and school is open today so hopefully my week starts to get back to a normal routine today.

Anyway, let’s talk food!

First, this Red Mango parfait. I used to live on Red Mango parfaits which some of you may recall from my blog’s early days! I even had the opportunity to review the Red Mango frozen yogurt smoothie line back in 2013.

While I think I enjoyed my parfait over the weekend, I can’t say that I totally thrilled me as it once did. It was just okay? I don’t know how to describe my reaction. In some ways it upsets me to not love Red Mango for lunch anymore but I guess our tastes in certain foods are allowed to change over time. Maybe I’m just in a phase.

Glitter sneakers peaking out! Love these shoes so much. 🙂

Saturday night I had dinner at Kashi. I remember when Kashi opened their first location in like 2011 (in Huntington, for local readers) and my friends and I fell in love with their food immediately. I also remember Kashi to be the first local sushi spot offering the peanut avocado roll. LOVE THE PEANUT AVOCADO ROLL.

Saturday night I was at the Syosset location but all of the Kashi restaurants are equally great.

I think this was some sort of spicy tuna gyoza with guacamole? Whatever it was, I really liked it.

Not the best lighting but the sushi was perfect!

Pizza for dinner one night! You know how I love a good slice of vegetable pizza.

I forgot to ask for a side of sauce and then the line got so long that I didn’t bother to go back up to get it. The sauce is the best for dipping the crust though! I won’t make this mistake again.

Of possible interest: Best Vegetable Pizza On Long Island

I’ve been eating at home too, it’s just not as exciting as when I dine out if you ask me. Big salads are still a theme for lunch –untiI I run out of my ingredients, that is!

This salad involved a variety of roasted vegetables along with quinoa and avocado. I was so afraid my avocado would be bad by lunch time (that’s how ripe it felt) but it was perfect when I cut it!

Power bowls have been my dinner lately because they are easy and always satisfying. This post on how to make a power bowl is a great reference if you are unsure how to make a plant-based power bowl.

Power bowls like this one below reminds me of my Italian Style Power Bowl recipe post from way back in the day. It looks like a mess but it’s really very good.

Food Links of Interest:

Roasted Mixed Potatoes with Spring Herbs and Burrata

Parmesan Roasted Broccoli With Balsamic Drizzle – I roasted my broccoli following this recipe yesterday and it came out great! Very easy which is what I look for in a recipe right now aside from good taste!

Celebrity Chef David Burke Takes Over Food Service At Garden City Hotel – Well, this is exciting news! And after reading the article, I learned David Burke was responsible for one of my former favorite Manhattan restaurants, Park Avenue Cafe. I had no idea. Fun Fact: Park Avenue Cafe is the restaurant I had dinner at the night I got engaged WAY BACK when.

Cheesecake Factory Brown Bread Is Coming To Stores! – Oh, wow! From this list it doesn’t look like any stores in the New York area but maybe soon! Which bread do you prefer from their bread basket? The famous “brown” bread (honey wheat) or the sourdough?

[bctt tweet=”Talking recent meals on the blog today including Red Mango, sushi night, veggie pizza, and power bowls! #food #sushi #redmango #pizza ” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

Are you a fan of power bowls? What are your typical ingredients when you make power bowls?

What foods used to be your favorite and now you find yourself not interesting in eating?

 

 

Fartleks + Red Mango + On This Day

 

Thursday has become the day that I update you on Heather’s running progress. She completed another 5k race on Sunday and was able to run the whole race! I am so very proud, I told you she was ready to do it!

She actually called me after the 2 mile mark during the race to see if she should speed up for the last mile. Do you love that I spoke to her on the phone while she was running a race?!

I told her that her main goal was to run without stopping. I didn’t think it was necessary to push it, risk burn out and then feel like she needed to walk.

The only thing I recommended, if she felt like she needed a mental distraction, was to start random intervals of speeding up and slowing down to make the last mile more engaging.

Known as fartleks, this is actually something I do during races, not just random workouts. Fartleks come in handy for me during races when I feel myself getting tired, burned out or mentally lost. I will pick a random landmark and tell myself to speed up to that point and then ease up again.

Fartleks are known as “speed play” however, I think for beginner runners especially, they actually benefit you by teaching you to also find your ability to run easy.

It’s like this –  If you speed up and then slow down, you realize you can slow yourself to a pace that feels comfortable enough to recover, rather than always think you need to walk to find that zone. Make sense?

Laura has a fun 30 minute fartlek workout that I may run today actually! I’m still loving the 30 minute workouts and even found a local 5k race I may run next weekend.

I find it really funny that I’m interested in running a 5k race right now. If you would have told me that I would ever choose to run a 5k race a year ago, or even 3 months ago, I would have laughed in your face! I never liked the short race distances but hey, things change. Never say never. About ANYTHING.

And because this post clearly needs an image, here’s my cup of Red Mango yogurt from last night. It was a LONG day in front of the computer screen so this yogurt mixed with dark chocolate chips and pumpkin flax granola made me really happy. As did a big Yankees win! My son may be the Mets fan in this house but I am the Yankees fan. 🙂

On This Day:

10/19/16: The Bar Mitzvah – I remember taking a few days off from the blog to recover before posting this brief Bar Mitzvah recap. I still can’t believe it’s a year ago now!

10/19/15: My Meatless Diet –I’m still a meatless eater so this post holds true and answers a lot of questions about my diet and how I went the meatless route.

10/19/14: Weekly Workout Recap – Oh wow! I remember getting this post up right before running the Runner’s World Half Marathon! I was in Bethlehem, PA for the Runner’s World weekend of races! This was the last weekend actually that I ran a 5k race too. I still can’t believe I ran 3 races in one weekend.

We know how I feel about selfies where you see your phone but hey, it’s a flashback photo and I didn’t know any better yet.

[bctt tweet=”Fartleks + Red Mango + On This Day #fartleks #running #redmango #onthisday” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

Anyone running the Runner’s World races this coming weekend?!

When is the next race on your calendar?

Favorite yogurt toppings?

Monday In Meals (WIAW 8.9.17)

 

Oh, hi. I’ve got my Monday in meals today for What I Ate Wednesday!

Breakfast:

I woke up tired and starving. Last week’s workouts really amped up my appetite over the last few days! It’s really been a while since I felt that true bottomless pit feeling in my stomach that can come from running.

I had my usual small bowl of oatmeal with coffee before my run and then my favorite post-run cold bowl of oatmeal (with blueberries, strawberries, sea salt, cinnamon and peanut butter) after my run. Taking pictures of either bowl of oatmeal just didn’t happen. I meant for it to happen, and then it didn’t.

I’m trying to get back in the habit of working from Panera a few mornings a week so I pushed myself out the door after a conference call.

Lunch:

After a couple of hours at Panera, I came home and made a big plant-based power bowl.

This power bowl contained roasted broccoli and red onions with chick peas, avocado plus leftover Trader Joe’s brown rice medley and spiralized carrots.

It was so good and really hit the spot.

Dinner:

We went to a greek restaurant for dinner and started with some sort of hummus  platter. We chose three types of hummus although I think one of them wasn’t a hummus at all. I am not even sure, I just know I really liked all three dips that arrived on the hummus platter.

Greek salad for me because I’m obsessed with feta cheese these days.

And then a stop at Red Mango. Those dark chocolate chips when combined with the Nature’s Path Pumpkin Flax Granola gets me every time. 🙂

Be sure to check out what everyone else is eating via Sprint 2 The Table today for What I Ate Wednesday!

[bctt tweet=”Monday in Meals! #WIAW #Monday #powerbowl #oatmeal #redmango #greeksalad #hummus #recenteats” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

How has your appetite been lately? Not so hungry, regular,  bottomless pit at times? Do you find it to be directly linked to your workout routine?

Favorite type of hummus?

What’s on today’s workout agenda? I will be running a 7 mile fartlek run!

 

Food Essentials, Outdoor Dining, Busy Living The Life

 

Aside from sharing yesterday’s workout recap and mentioning that my new training plan starts today, I feel like we haven’t really chatted in a few days!

It felt so good to finally go food shopping. I rushed out the door the other morning to Trader Joe’s to restock the house with some food essentials. When I say food essentials, I really mean coffee K Cups and watermelon. The rest of the food I could really take or leave at this point.

Watermelon is a major food essential for me right now in the summer. It’s the only food that truly rehydrates me as a summer runner in this heat and humidity. Sure, adding sea salt to my oatmeal after I run works wonders but without watermelon, my thirst really can’t be quenched.

My son came home from his teen tour Friday evening. One of the first things he said was that he has been following me on Instagram to see that I have been busy living the life. And by living the life, he means dining out a whole lot.

We had the most wonderful dinner Thursday night at View in Oakdale. It’s all about outdoor dining on the water in the summer here on Long Island!

I can’t wait to offer this Long Island outdoor dining spot a full review hopefully later this week.

The sushi was terrific and it’s always fun when my son questions if the wine glass in pictures is mine. Who is the parent here is what I usually ask him!

After a humid 10 mile run Saturday morning, I got ready super quick in order to get into the city to see Heather again! Her flight wasn’t until later in the afternoon so we had plenty of time to shop and eat before taking her to the airport. Shopping in the city has been our thing since we were old enough to walk around the city by ourselves.

We picked a nice brunch spot on the upper east side (UVA) and got lucky to score the last open outdoor dining table. UVA has the fluffiest of pancakes on their brunch menu but I was STARVING and in the mood for savory food. Heather did order the pancake though while I chose a grilled vegetable salad with fresh mozzarella.

Did you know I don’t do Snapchat? Aside from my son telling me I am too old for it, I just can’t bring myself to do another social media platform. Between running the social media accounts for work plus the few I have for the blog plus my personal Facebook, I just can’t do it all. Heather on the other hand, she LOVES Snapchat. I appreciate the crazy videos and pictures she sends (or is it snaps?) to me and I guess I find this picture she took (snapped?) of us cute too.

I spent most of yesterday doing laundry but I still made it to the mall and had my favorite Red Mango parfait for lunch. Major flashback post: Four years ago today Red Mango paid me to review their smoothie line! As a pretty new blogger at the time and devoted Red Mango lover, this was a really big deal for me!

So it’s Monday once again which means my son is off this morning for another fun week of his teen tour. I managed to do all of his laundry and packed his suitcase back up so he’s all set to go! Last week he was in Hershey Park, Amish Country and even Philadelphia with a stop at Reading Terminal Market. Who remembers when I took him all the way to Philadelphia for lunch at Reading Terminal Market one day?! I hope he told his friends he had already been there because his mom is so cool she knows the food hot spots in other cities. 🙂

So while he thinks I am busy living the life, I remain jealous of the fun he is having this summer too. So far he has called the last two weeks, “the best two weeks of his entire life” which makes me so incredibly happy you don’t even know!

[bctt tweet=”Busy Living The Life! #weekend #brunch #NYC #redmango #teentour #traderjoes ” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

How was your weekend? Best thing you ate?

What are your food essentials right now when you go food shopping? Anything specific during the summer?

How is your summer so far? Is it turning out to be one of your best you think?