Week In Review: Workouts/Weekend/Sometimes I Eat Steak

 

I held off my workout recap for this morning to do more of a week in review, linking up with Meg today!

So first, my workouts. As I mentioned in Friday’s post, I didn’t feel much like running, especially early in the week. Lately I’ve been running 4 days a week, usually 5 miles at a clip and maybe a little longer on Saturday’s. This week, I don’t know, I just wasn’t feeling it. I went with my mood each morning until running became what I wanted to do, which wasn’t really until the weekend.

Monday – 3 Miles (run)/30 Min Pure Barre

Tuesday – 45 Min Pure Barre

I didn’t feel like running. Or walking. Pure Barre it was!

Wednesday – 3 Mile Walk/30 Min Elliptical

I didn’t feel like running again! I went for a walk but also landed inside my gym for the elliptical in between.

Thursday – 5 Miles (run)

I knew I was going to run but I didn’t really feel like it yet it felt good so I’m glad I did.

Friday – 40 Min Pure Barre/3 Mile Walk

Saturday – 7 Miles

Warm weather combined with my time of the month (bleh) isn’t wonderful but running was actually ok!

Sunday – Pure Barre

Aside from workouts, I think it finally set in over the week that my son is away which is TOTALLY FINE and I LOVE MY FREEDOM yet still, I’m a mom and I miss the kid even though my house remains clean at all times.

^He was just in San Diego! Who else is super jealous?! I’ve only ever been to California once and the one place I did visit was San Diego and it’s just incredible. And these snapchat maps are hysterical. I told him he needs to change his outfit so he isn’t in his winter clothes. HA.

It’s so weird to NOT clean up his room every morning, make his bed, straighten his bathroom, and run the laundry constantly. Although, it’s super nice to barely need to worry about groceries or make dinner or schlep him from place to place.

But mom life is my life and not having to do mom things can get weird when it’s a part of my routine, especially in the morning and afternoon. I usually base my workouts around him leaving for school and then my work day tends to end when he walks in the door.

In any event, so long as he’s happy, I’m happy and at peace in my clean, orderly house. I worked every day as usual, a few times from Panera and once from Infiniti while getting my oil changed for my car.

Did I ever tell you how much I love working from the Infiniti waiting room? The wifi is great and the coffee is nice too. I get some of my best work done when I’m there that I’m always happy to go! Sometimes they apologize if the service takes longer than usual and I’m always like, hey no rush! I like it here!

I didn’t get a chance to tell you about this chopped salad that I had alongside a bagel from Town Bagel. I always enjoy their maple raisin multigrain bagel. And the best part is that the line moved so fast at Town Bagel this time that I was in shock at how quick my salad was ready. Sort of unheard of for this bagel store.

Already told you we went to Salt the other night but will mention again because my mom said the picture of the bay came out pretty.

Instead of Long Beach on Saturday, I went to Atlantic Beach to spend time at my aunt’s beach house. Atlantic Beach is right next to Long Beach, just a little further west.

My cousins have kids ranging from my son’s age down to 3 years old — I love seeing the water table and all the little things we used to have!

If you look super close at my salad, you will notice a small piece of steak. From time to time, I will now eat a bite (or two or three) of steak when I see it and I feel like it. For example, if I’m at a steak house and I want it, I have some. Or if I make skirt steak for my son and I want it, I will have a bite.

And on Saturday, my aunt was serving it with lunch among other foods so I had a piece. I still don’t eat chicken or turkey, but steak has become my exception.

Yesterday’s weather was not beach weather so we ended up going out for brunch at Black and Blue in Huntington. Others watched the soccer game for entertainment, I watched the people in the restaurant.

Delicious ahi tuna salad! I’m not totally sure what was in the salad but I really enjoyed it.

We walked over the Kilwin’s for a daytime dessert. I went straight for the chocolate apples.

I like that they will slice them up for you, so much easier to eat this way! Especially while walking around town.

And the one thing I really do not wish to talk about is my inability to locate my most favorite running shoes. I’m not really sure what is going on! I can’t find anything about my Adidas Energy Boosts being discontinued and they aren’t listed as endangered by Road Runner Sports. But I can’t locate them left in my size anywhere online and whatever is left, is on sale. I’m going to try to go over to my local running store today to get more information.

I’ve been wearing the Energy Boosts since 2013. I am not ready to deal with the possibility of needing to switch! Ugh.

Do you happen to know anything about the Energy Boosts to share with me?!

How was your weekend? Best thing you ate?

Workouts + Weekend + Sushi Tradition + Cyber Monday

 

Oh boy. Long holiday weekends make Monday that much harder. And I am not even going think about the fact that my son has a late evening hockey game tonight. Nope. Not thinking about it until tonight when I am looking to go to sleep and have to head out to his game. 

So today I am sharing a quick recap today of my week in workouts plus some weekend food and fun thrown in too. This was a higher mileage week for me and I really enjoyed every mile. As I mentioned last week, I am finding myself returning naturally to the longer distances again over the shorter, speedier runs. I have come to realize that subconsciously I can now find the perfect balance for myself just by running exactly where my mood takes me. When I feel like running longer, I will run longer and when I find myself not in the mood, I will naturally run shorter yet faster. At least that’s what seems to happen!

The one thing I am noticing however is that when I run longer, my Pure Barre workouts are shorter or less frequent. There was a time when I could do both but mentally, I just don’t feel like it. Time wise and patience wise, an hour or so (aside from my long run) is all I want to devote to exercise and that’s okay. It’s another natural progression for me I guess. I’m just naturally running a specific distance and then subconsciously coordinating a Pure Barre workout that caps off for around a hour total of workout time these days.

Monday – 7 Miles

It wasn’t overly cold (high 30’s maybe?) but there was a decently strong wind which was pretty annoying.

Tuesday – 6 Miles/10 Min Pure Barre

6 miles with rounds of 5 minutes easy/5 minutes 30 seconds hard/30 seconds easy outside before coming home for two, 5 minute Pure Barre workouts. One combined arms & abs and the other for seat.

Wednesday – 30 Min Pure Barre/30 Min Running (treadmill)

It was pouring rain this morning so I opted for 30 minutes of Pure Barre before heading to the gym for the treadmill. Fairly easy 30 minute run which covered 3.5 miles.

Thursday – 10 Miles

Since it was Thanksgiving, I knew I would have the time for a longer run. 10 miles and it felt great!

In case you missed my recap of Thanksgiving, here it is. 🙂

Friday – 5 Miles/15 Min Pure Barre

5 miles plus 15 minute of Pure Barre after my run: 10 minutes thighs & seat plus 5 minutes for arms.

Some people have Black Friday shopping traditions, I have Black Friday food traditions. This was our second annual Black Friday sushi tradition at Aiko!

Aiko has my most favorite crispy rice topped with tuna appetizer so I was really excited to order it immediately.

We also ordered shumai before getting to the sushi.

The spicy mango shrimp roll is always a must for me when it’s on a sushi menu. I can’t even tell you what other rolls we ordered. I think the standard spicy tuna roll, a Philadelphia roll (not for me) and a special roll that I believe involved lobster.

Saturday – 11 Miles

Not much to report here! I was on the phone for the first 4 miles which was good because I was able to warm up and adjust to running without thinking about it. I planned to stop at 1o miles but then my son called so I stayed out another mile while chatting on the phone.

Then it was time to shop a bit before getting my haircut. I have an awesome gift guide coming up tomorrow which includes more of my faves from Henri Bendel so I won’t smother you with what else I am loving today too. If you missed Friday’s post, there are a few additional must-have items though. 🙂

The lady who cut my hair used the flat-iron which is something I NEVER do to my hair but she wanted to cut my hair dry and super straight to ensure the ends were all even.

This is me scoping it all out in the mirror after the cut while in the store Vanilla Sky. And then I sent the picture to Heather to see what she thought too.

^You know by now that I am one of those people who walks around stores with their sunglasses still on, right? I can’t really help it- they are prescription so I forget they are on my face until I see a mirror.

I stopped by my parents’ house and had grandma pizza and salad < – favorite combination.

Sunday – Pure Barre (45 min)

My son had football watching plans with his friend so I was free to shop and eat and whatever for a large part of the day.

Lunch at Panera and I went back to ordering my salad instead of the You Pick Two.

Plus an afternoon little snack of chocolate. This is what happens when Chocolate Works opens a location right near you. You stop in for little bites at random times. 🙂

Quick Cyber Monday Chat!

Ahhhh!!! I can’t even with all the sales.

I made the mistake of checking out the UNDER $100 sales section of the Bloomingdales website. I say mistake because now I want everything. Like this  French Connection Mini Dress. How cute? And this Endless Rose Off-The-Shoulder Sweater AND the Splendid Cold Shoulder Hoodie is on sale too! If you get it, order a size up because it runs on the smaller side.

If you are a more of Nordstrom shopper, they are running an extra  20% OFF   off selected sale items with free shipping and free returns.

Bergdorf is to 40% off during the Designer Sale  plus this Cyber Monday deal for a gift card! Receive up to a $750 gift card when you spend $200+ on regular priced items – beauty and fragrance included. CODE: GC4YOU

For even more sales and items on my list, check out my post from Friday!

[bctt tweet=”week in workouts plus weekend food and fun on the blog! #weekend #workouts #running #purebarre #blackfriday #weekinreview #shopping #bendelgirl” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

Linking up with Meg’s week in review today!

How was your weekend? Are you ready to get back to work/life today?!

Best thing you ate over the weekend?

Are you shopping Cyber Monday sales?

 

 

 

 

Vegetarian Sushi, Chipwiches, Summer in NYC

 

Happy Monday! I’m linking up with Meg’s Week In Review today!

I published five blog posts last week which I didn’t even realize until putting this week in review post together.

3 Year Pure Barre Anniversary

Best Onion Rings In New York (Recent Eats)

When You Stop Caring About What You Eat (TOL)

Long Island Outdoor Dining Spots

Summer Training Week #2

I’m sure you noticed that I’ve been living up to my summer goal of going out as much as possible while my son is away on his teen tour.

Monday night, I was all like, Hey it’s summer in NYC, what could be better than this?! which was the complete opposite of my mood come summer in NYC Wednesday night.

Monday night was easy and fun because I didn’t really need to drive too much through the city traffic. I flew in (no traffic) and parked fairly immediately which meant I was able to walk around rather than deal with the craziness of attempting to drive the streets of Manhattan.

Driving through Manhattan eats at my patience like you can’t even imagine. The older I get, the worse it seems to be.

The WIPA event I had to attend Wednesday night was at Espace which is located on 42nd Street and like 11th Ave. For those of you not familiar with the city, this meant that I had to drive cross town and through Times Square.

I seriously contemplated abandoning my car at one point and even realized that had I done so, no one would even notice.

Everyone would just keep driving and walking around my car anyway, if it were moving or not.

New Yorkers don’t really care about traffic signals which is fine for me when I am the pedestrian. It’s when I’m the car in the city traffic trying to drive without running people over that I have a problem.

The only positive side to the insanity that was driving through Manhattan Wednesday night was the food being served at my work event. Gosh I love my job in the event industry. We always get the best of the best caterers at our events!!

Sen Sakana served their sushi and I lost count of how many rolls I had. I was glued to the vegetarian sushi roll section. This was  probably the best vegetarian sushi, both in variety and taste, that I have ever had!

I’ve had Sen Sakana a few times at events but I don’t recall their vegetarian sushi, most specifically, the vegetarian sushi rolls that look like they have fish on top but in fact it’s roasted beets!

Sen Sakana just opened a restaurant location on 44th street and I think I’m willing to brave the city traffic to check it out.

I skipped the taco bar but took the picture for you. 🙂

I did not skip dessert. Maybe I should have in order to get through the Midtown tunnel before they closed a lane for construction but come on. How could I pass up dessert?

So let’s blame my sweet tooth for causing me to sit in TWO HOURS of traffic on my way home.

The mini cupcakes were worth it courtesy of Butterfly Bake Shop.

Oh and there were chipwiches! There were three types of chipwiches available but I went with the classic.

The weekend is a blur. My son arrived home Friday evening from his teen tour (he was in Virginia all week) which meant a whole lot of laundry for me over the weekend. I washed a few loads of laundry only to fold and pack up again for this week’s teen tour trip! Oh to be a kid again.

I did made it to the pool yesterday. I’m pretty sure that weather wise, yesterday was the nicest day of the summer.

Let’s not discuss the back to school paraphernalia in all of the stores. I’ve been ignoring it as much as possible because neither of us are ready for summer to end. We still have over a month left of summer vacation, okay?!

[bctt tweet=”week in review on the blog today! #NYC #sushi #dessert #summer #ontheblog” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

Are you a vegetarian sushi fan? Which rolls are your favorite?

Best thing you ate over the weekend?

Do you lose patience driving in traffic?

Never Ready To Come Back (Foxwoods Recap)

 

 

The problem I have lately when I go away is that I’m never ready to come back. I get so thrown for a loop that it takes me a few days to feel back to normal and ready again for regular routine. This is what happened to me when I went to Chicago in March too.

Anyway. No one wants to hear me complain.

So hi! How are you? Is it a long weekend where you live too? The long holiday weekend is probably what’s saving me right now as I don’t have to work again until Wednesday!

I didn’t take a ton of pictures while away but I captured some of the important moments (like the food) to share with you today.

I was at Foxwoods (in Connecticut) for 3 days/2 nights. We decided to take a more relaxed, scenic route to get to Foxwoods by driving out east on Long Island through wine country and then taking the Cross Sound ferry to Connecticut.

We stopped for a quick bite to eat at the Premier Diner on the way out east. I couldn’t decide between my beloved baked oatmeal and the blueberry walnut whole pancakes but ultimately chose the pancakes.

A genius decision.

The blueberry walnut whole wheat pancakes helped me to enjoy wine tasting without passing out.

Stopping at the diner and then driving through wine country made the trip out east in order to get to the ferry feel super fast. I couldn’t even tell you how far it was from my house to Orient Point because the ride to the wineries felt so quick! Over an hour I guess? More than that? I don’t know.

So the Cross Sound ferry allows you to bring your car so you just drive your car on board and then hang out for an hour or so until you reach Connecticut.

New York side.

Connecticut side. It was then like a 20 minute drive from the ferry to Foxwoods.

Foxwoods food highlights:

You know me, breakfast at hotels usually ends up to be oatmeal with fruit. They gave me brown sugar but I never understood the need for it since adding fruit makes the oatmeal naturally sweet enough!

I missed pictures from dinner at David Burke’s Prime (where I had the best molten chocolate cake of my life) but we also ate at Guy Fieri’s restaurant.

These are the Trash Can Nachos. They serve the nachos piled tight in a can and then remove the can from the nachos for you to eat it.

I ordered this sweet potato and brussels sprouts salad thing. It was SO GOOD.

Of course I had to go to Sugar Factory. Who remembers when I first went to Sugar Factory, I think it was New Year’s 2014? Hold on, let me check. Yep, here’s that post.

With so many dessert options to choose from, I just couldn’t decide what to order so we went with the chocolate cake AND a chipwich.

I loved both desserts, I can’t even pick a favorite. The chocolate cake was terrific and the chipwich was made with fresh chocolate chip cookies.

My son leaves for his first week of camp today! He’s doing a teen tour this summer where he travels to really fun places (including Canada!) Monday through Friday and is then home on weekends. I am really excited for him. I did a teen tour like this when I was his age! 🙂

[bctt tweet=”recapping my quick trip to Foxwoods! #roadtrip #foxwoods #summer #wineries #northfork #northforkwineries” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

Linking up with Meg’s Week in Review!

Best thing you ate so far this holiday weekend?

Ever been to a Sugar Factory location? Which one and what did you order?

Are you good about coming back from vacation or do you need time to adjust to regular routine again?

Need Downtime Plus Mets Game, Cookie Do & Cakes (week in review)

 

I haven’t done a week in review post with Meg in a while!

It was a crazy busy, nonstop week. I think most June weeks are like this every year but still, knowing that doesn’t make it any easier.

My son had his last full day of school last Monday followed by a few scattered final exams with a couple of days completely off. His last final exam (French!) is this morning and then he is done with middle school! Who else can’t believe it? Any long time readers who can recall me writing about elementary school graduation?

Somehow I managed to juggle him, his schedule, my work from home schedule and the blog. I even published six posts last week!

How that happened, I don’t even know.

Busy June Weekend Recap 

Trader Joe’s Shop  & Ways To Use Everything But Bagel Sesame Seasoning 

Recent Eats 

Life Lessons After Divorce 

Gapfit Finds & Links I Am Loving 

Running & Pure Barre Recap

So I love being out and about but I also need my downtime.

Like, getting home late only to wash my face and fall asleep to then get up early and start another day without downtime in between doesn’t work well for me too many days in a row. But that’s how I feel last week went most of the time!

It’s all such a blur now but I think my son had evening hockey practices plus an evening hockey game last week and somehow, we squeezed in an evening Mets game too.

It was a fairly last-minute decision or shall I say, last-minute question.

Mom, can we go to the Mets game later?

Um, okay?

I am pretty sure I only agree to take him to Mets games because I know I will get a really good snack. This time I chose a cup of cookie dough from Do. Have you had Cookie Do NYC? It’s always so good! I almost gave out cute cups of Cookie Do as favors at the Bar Mitzvah! < – Just remembered that.

We got home from the Mets game late and I had to be out the door early in the morning to be in the city for a work thing. Luckily, I was driving in with my friend Dina so I didn’t have to drive.

We had SO MUCH TRAFFIC both ways. It was insane. On the way home, I kept suggesting we abandon the car in the middle lane of the Long Island Expressway with our arms in the air to let everyone know we have simply given up.

Somehow we pulled up to The Plaza just in time for an appointment. We still don’t know how we made that happen.

I take these types of pictures to use for work social media but thought maybe you wanted to see the inside of The Plaza hotel.

And you probably don’t care what The Plaza ballrooms look like but I care a whole lot because I love intricate wall details inside venues and hotels.

Anyway, after a quick appointment, we had a nice lunch outside at Sarabeth’s (the location at Central Park South).

I had the quinoa crusted ahi tuna thing which was delicious. It’s rare that I eat fish but when I do, it’s usually ahi tuna.

We ordered cake as a belated birthday treat! Have I mentioned that I love the people I work with?

And where did the weekend go? Don’t ask me. It was spent schlepping my son around to hockey, plans with friends as well as shopping for last-minute camp clothing and something new to wear to his moving up graduation ceremony tomorrow night.

There was cake yesterday though! We really like to celebrate when we can with cake so yesterday’s chocolate fudge layer cake was for Father’s Day and graduation.

Looks familiar, right? We went to The Bakery again for this cake just like we did for my birthday cake only two weeks ago. We arrived at The Bakery in the afternoon and it looked like they were out of cakes but we got lucky because a fresh batch of cakes came out just in time!

It’s going to be another fun yet busy week! I cannot believe my bunny is about to “graduate” from middle school tomorrow night. Am I really old enough to have a child in high school? Don’t answer that question.

[bctt tweet=”week in review! #weekend #weekinreview #sarabethsnyc @cookiedonyc #metsgame #graduation #cake” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

How was your week and weekend? Best thing you ate over the last few days?

Anyone going away this summer? Where are you going?

 

Currently Going On & Recent Eats

 

I don’t think that I have ever done a “currently” post but it seemed like the best theme for today’s week in review.

Writing:

I have been writing NONSTOP for the event industry work that I do to the point where last week felt like one long day. Good thing I enjoy what I write though, it really makes all the difference.

I still found time to write 6 posts last week here on the blog. It’s relaxing and mentally rejuvenating to keep my blog writing up while writing so much in other places. I find that it helps my brain keep the balance and creativity going (which I mentioned last week too).

Blog Highlights:

Quirky Eating Habits or Disordered Eating  – I am a little bit behind on responding to comments but I hope to get to them today.

Friday Favorites – I meant to get over to the Pure Barre studio this weekend to see if that had that cute Pure Barre love shirt but I never made it there.

Workout Recap – It was a quality over quantity workout week and I am still especially proud of my long run on the treadmill!

Watching:

I am all caught up with Girlfriends Guide to Divorce and oh boy are things getting technical for Abby and the baseball team! I am loving where the series is at right now, who else is watching?

I also caught a few episodes of Altar’d. Have you seen it? What do you think?

And Khloe has a Revenge Body show going on now too. I watched one episode and I liked the girl who worked out in the ballet studio!

Buying:

I don’t always buy something when I go shopping but I have been on the hunt for the last several months to find the perfect little (but not too little) black cross body bag that is nice enough to use for work events/going out that can also fit the following:

• wallet
• keys
• glasses
• phone
• tampons
• lipstick

Not an easy bag to find! Lately the trend has been those phone case bags that hold some credit cards too but where would I put all of my necessities?

After a careful search, I finally decided on this Soho Mini Chain Crossbody Bag from Henri Bendel (no surprise here, Bendel is my favorite store lately).

For the price and functionality, I think this bag is perfect. I will be using it tonight for the first time at a work event in the city!

Eating:

Still obsessed over here with the cinnamon vanilla Yogi tea. I refill my mug all day long and this time, almost overflowed it.

We still like going to Chopt for salads and my favorite dressing right now is the spicy tahini.

I never shared a picture of the onion rings we had when we went to Cheeburger Cheeburger the other night. These onion rings were a little greasy for my taste but still good.

We had lunch at Morrison’s yesterday. I have been to Morrison’s a few times in the past but this time was just okay.

The service was super slow and the salad that I was finally able to order came out wrong. I believe I ordered the Gypsy Bowl which was to contain chick peas, farro, roasted peppers, tomatoes and asparagus.

Somehow, it was missing the vegetables and arrived with shrimp. The shrimp part really confused me.

Of course I sent it back for the vegetables to be added! It was just okay.

The roasted brussels sprouts were really good though.

And, most importantly, Cold Stone had cookie dough back in stock as a topping this weekend! Finally.

Have a great week! 🙂

[bctt tweet=”week in review #weekend #running #bendelgirl #coldstone #altard #GG2D #weekinreview” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

3 things you did over the weekend?

What shows are you watching on television right now?

Best thing you ate over the weekend?

 

10 Things From The Week

I feel like I have so much to say today!

Even though I posted yesterday, that post was just about running (and Pure Barre).

There’s so much more to my life than just my workouts!

1) My son had three outdoor hockey games this week. One Saturday, one Sunday and one MONDAY NIGHT.

Monday nights are just brutal, especially when you have to be outdoors in the winter at 8:00 pm. I am pretty sure I lost feeling in my toes that night.

2) I became re-addicted to Gilmore Girls this week. When the show first came out back in the year 2000, I had just graduated college and still lived at home. I remember watching Gilmore Girls every single Tuesday night.

But then I got married fairly quickly which meant I lost control of the remote at night so that put an end to most of my Gilmore Girls watching days. I’ve watched little bits through the years but now I am officially all caught up! In fact, I had never seen the series finale until last week! Now the Netflix episodes make so much more sense to me.

3) I made it to Panera twice during the week to work. The change of scenery is always nice although when I am in my writing groove, I tune out everything around me anyway.

One day I ordered a salad for lunch. I even had them give me an apple with my salad which counted as the first apple to cross my lips since December. I am still not in the mood for apples though. The thought of a granny smith apple makes my stomach turn.

Funny how that happens.

4) My son tried to pretend he was sick every day of the week but only succeeded in staying home on Thursday. I guess by Thursday I was worn down by his attempts? It’s okay because it meant I could run a little bit later in the morning since we weren’t on a school morning schedule.

Running later = running outside so I was happy. Workout recap here if anyone is interested!

5) I shared my top 5 most viewed blog recipes but left out two important recipes:

Build Your Own Plant Based Power Bowl

Cold S’mores

I sort of forgot about the power bowl post, not realizing how many times it had been pinned!

And my cold s’mores recipe is currently a top viewed post according to my stats so it’s definitely worth checking out. I really need to make these cold s’mores again because I love having a bunch in the freezer for a quick snack!

6) A major chocolate craving hit one night for m&m’s. I don’t know when I started loving pretzel m&m’s but I really like them.

I can’t help but think about the healthier monster cookies I once made using pretzel m&m’s way back in 2015.

Hold on, let me find that post…here it is. I need to make these cookies again!

7) I didn’t get pictures from dinner Saturday night but I’ve been really into spicy food. We went to Cinco de Mayo and really liked it.

8) I was out early yesterday to take my son to see the Islanders practice before his hockey game. The Islanders lost both Friday and Saturday night but we don’t need to focus on that.

9) We picked a cookie cake for Super Bowl Sunday dessert. I liked this cookie cake but it was a little too crispy and crunchy for me. My favorite type of cookie cake would be soft and chewy.

10) And I feel like saying that I really like writing this blog in addition to all of the other writing I do about weddings and events.

For me, writing on various topics helps to keep me creative rather than feel burned out and unproductive. Lately I have been writing more than my usual a lot for the event industry work that I do but writing about running, life and silly things (like Cold Stone being out of cookie dough) really keeps my mind happy and fresh.

I think it’s important as a writer to write on multiple subjects rather than put all of your writing eggs all in one basket.

Thanks for reading. 🙂

[bctt tweet=”10 things from the week! #weekinreview #weekend #gilmoregirls #cookiecake #Isles #hockey #running” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

Linking up with Meg’s Week in Review!

What did you eat for Super Bowl?

Do you have a cookie cake opinion? Soft and chewy or crisp and crunchy?

3 things you did over the weekend?

 

 

 

Highlights From The Week & Weekend Eats

 

What a week.

I feel like I say that way too often but it’s how I feel these days! The fact that we are entering February this week makes me really happy though as it means we are getting closer to March.

A part of me hates that I rush the days away but gosh, aside from hockey season, I really want nothing to do with winter!

Let’s bullet point the highlights from the week, shall we?

• LOTS of writing (I can talk all things weddings if you are interested)
• A Monday work day with my pal Dina (we are working together again today!)
• A really good fruit salad while at a think tank work meeting in the city on Tuesday

• Three outdoor hockey games (and one more tonight!). Confession: I sat inside at the rink watching the Islanders play hockey on television most of the time rather than braving the cold to watch my son play Thursday night.

• Ice cream WITHOUT cookie dough ( I still don’t understand how Cold Stone is always out of cookie dough)

• Several angry phone calls to the New York State health people to deal with re-certifying my health insurance (the worst!)
• An oil change Friday morning plus a plug for the nail in my tire (why do my tires always attract nails?)
• A whole lot of laundry (where does it come from?!)

And then there’s my really in-depth workout recap post from yesterday which explained my odd week with muscle soreness and lower mileage.

Thankfully I feel normal again! I just wish I could get outside more during the week to run rather than be inside almost everyday on the treadmill. When oh when will the sun start rising earlier?!

If you are looking for me this week, I will be here.

Favorite Weekend Eats:

I had a Red Mango parfait for lunch on Friday courtesy of a much appreciated Red Mango gift card I received earlier in the week. This is probably the only way I eat fresh berries these days!

Sushi Saturday night.

This pan of spicy fried brussels sprouts weren’t even too spicy for me! I really liked them.

The chocolate chips on the side of this chocolate cake were simply perfect. This isn’t Linda’s Fudge cake because remember, I am still annoyed that they changed Linda’s Fudge cake AND made it smaller.

And I am still cleaning the waffle maker from the mess my son made Saturday morning after my long run.

There was waffle batter caked all over this thing! Ugh.

Have a great week!

[bctt tweet=”week in review plus favorite weekend eats #weekinreview #weekend #running #sushi #redmango #eats” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

Linking up with Meg’s Week In Review!

3 things you did over the weekend?

What’s on the workout agenda for today? Will you run inside or outside today?

Best thing you ate over the weekend?

My Uggs Fell Apart, Trader Joe’s & Recent Eats

 

Linking up with Meg’s Week in Review today!

I barely remember that my son was off from school on Monday for Martin Luther King Day! It was a crazy week for me work wise yet somehow I still managed to publish six posts here on the blog.

Blog Highlights:

It’s Okay To Not Sign Up For a Race < – I still don’t think I will be entering the lottery for the New York City Marathon but my interest in the Long Island Half may be returning since writing this post!

Altar’d For Life < – Have you checked out Altar’d yet on Z Living? Let me know what you think!

After posting yesterday’s workout recap, I headed outside for an easy 5 mile run. The weather was glorious for January and I felt terrific even though I ran 13 miles on Saturday followed by dinner Saturday night at Rothman’s. Neither seemed to affect my ability to enjoy my run.

Earlier this week Heather sent me these cute coasters from her company, Atlas Event Rental. One side is the company logo and the other side offers party planning tips.

It still makes me giggle that Heather and I ended up working in the same industry. We were just meant to be best friends. I am forever grateful that I walked over to say I liked her outfit when I spotted her 30 years ago in my camp group.

By the time I finally got to Trader Joe’s on Friday, I hadn’t been food shopping there in well over a week! I am pretty sure that I spent more money in one Trader Joe’s trip than ever before.

It was one of those food shopping experiences where you just throw everything into your cart but aren’t really sure what you bought.

I see that I bought these dark chocolate heart cookies but don’t tell my son because I hid the box.

So my Uggs finally gave out on me. I have had this particular pair of Uggs for TEN YEARS. And then, just like that, I got a tear in the left boot while pulling them on which meant it was time for a new pair.

I didn’t even realize how shot my Uggs were until I went to get a new pair at Bloomingdales over the weekend. It wasn’t easy to get my old pair of Uggs to stand up for this picture.

I didn’t do such a good job with food pictures this week but it happens. Sometimes I get too caught up in just eating and enjoying the moment to think about stopping for a picture.

These onion rings were good though.

I got back on my toasted bialy with plum tomatoes and melted mozzarella kick for lunch. Such a great combination!

I’ve been using my Dunkin Donuts gift card real frequently, including a stop there yesterday afternoon before my son’s hockey game.

Dinner last night at The Cheesecake Factory capped off the weekend. I am not so sure that I am ready for Monday though.

[bctt tweet=”week in review! #cheescakefactory #Uggs #dunkindonuts #weekend #running #weekinreview” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

3 things you did over the weekend?

Do you wear Uggs? Have they lasted you a really long time like mine did?

What was for dinner last night?

 

They Changed Linda’s Fudge Cake & Other Recent Eats

 

Last week felt like such a blur and I don’t even know why!

Maybe because I started the week working with my pal Dina all day which was a slightly different workday routine.

Or maybe it’s because the week started out at 5 degrees with snow and ice on the ground and then jumped up drastically to almost 60 degrees by Thursday.

I went from barely being able to walk out the front door in fear of frostbite or falling on my face to taking afternoon walks just to feel the fresh warm air.

Just a minor snow block on my running path which quickly melted by the weekend!

Running was totally up and down last week, that’s for sure. My mind keeps going back to the idea of taking a Soul Cycle spin class one of these days real soon so I think I will do just that.

Speaking of running, last week saw a HUGE spike in views for my post, 5 Benefits of Treadmill Running for Outdoor Runners.  I think Pinterest had something to do with it. In case you missed this post last year, here’s the link!

Recent Eats (Highlights):

My life is best recapped in food.

Without going in any particular order…

This thin crust pizza was just everything to me the other night. EVERYTHING.

I must be on a pizza kick because I had my favorite whole wheat veggie pizza Friday night before my son’s outdoor hockey game. He had two games this weekend and three games coming up next weekend. Good thing I like hockey.

We were due for salads from Chopt last week.

This time we took our salads home with us rather than eating at Chopt because my son didn’t like how his hair looked enough to be possibly be seen by someone he knows from school. I agreed to leave because I remember what it’s like to be a kid.

I had this greek salad at lunch with a friend yesterday at Premier Diner. Sometimes I really love a giant salad!

So this is major. Sit down for this one. The Cheesecake Factory changed Linda’s Fudge Cake.

Without telling me. They just brought me a slice and left it up to me to realize it is different!

In fairness, it still tastes amazing but why change an already good thing?! Why now serve Linda’s Fudge Cake with less whipped cream, fewer chocolate chips and why MAKE IT SMALLER?!

Linda’s fudge cake now appears on the plate upright like a slice of cheesecake rather than on its side. Maybe this is done in an effort to trick me into not noticing there are fewer chocolate chips. The chocolate fudge icing seems a little different too yet I think tastes the same if that makes sense.

I don’t even want to talk about it.

I do not like change especially when the change involves my favorite desserts. Can’t we just leave well enough alone?

Updated to Include this Post of Interest: Biggest Slices of Cake

Who is off from work/school today?

How do you feel about change? Do you roll with it or freak out?

The best thing you ate over the weekend?

Linking up with Meg’s Week in Revew!