I took a day trip on Sunday!

Bright and early Sunday morning, we caught an early flight from SF to LA.   The flight’s a little over an hour, so not too difficult for a day trip (though usually makes way more sense to go down for longer given the airport time and plane flight costs.)  Driving takes 8 hours, in case you were curious.

I really wanted to see my great-Aunt and Uncle who are in their late-80s and some friends who I haven’t seen in way too long.  It was a last-minute-ish trip, but worked out really well.

The alarm went off at 5:30 (yikes, early for a wknd).  I showered, dressed, and ate a quick breakfast.  Almond Butter on Toast with a banana.  I was surprisingly really hungry for that early in the morning.

And then left by 6:30 to make our 8am flight.  We parked in one of the long-term parking lots and the airport was so empty luckily (Sunday morning of a long-weekend, so we missed the rush).

I needed coffee as soon as we got to the airport.  I was fading fast.

Virgin America’s in a new terminal that has really, really good restaurants….basically, a bunch of the really good SF restaurants all opened spots there.

I got my coffee at the Kara’s Cupcakes kiosk that shared its spot with a Napa olive-oil-jam-fresh-baked-goods-etc shop.  Everything looked so good!  Unfortunately, I wasn’t hungry.

My hair thing was weirdly wrapped around my finger all day….not sure what was up with that!

And then about an hour and a half later, we were in LA!

Rental car pick-up, quick drive to Venice beach, and a little while later…..it was 11:30 and time to meet my Aunt and Uncle for brunch.  We went to Rose Cafe,  a really cute cafe with a huge shaded patio area.  My breakfast was early, so I was def hungry for lunch by then.  I got a chicken pesto sandwich that was great, but way too filling (could only eat half).

Jared got the french toast to the right (yum!) and you can see my Uncle’s oatmeal in the back (topped with a ton of strawberries and fresh granola!).   It was nice to see my great-Aunt and Uncle.  They can’t come up to SF anymore (too far, too hard for them- they’re in their mid/late 80s) and I don’t get down to LA often enough. Always fun to hear all their stories.

Afterwards, we were trying to meet up with one of my friends, but he ended up in a golf game that went longer than expected so the timing didn’t work out.  Instead, we enjoyed the LA sunshine (was cold in SF fri and sat last week) and walked along the beach.

Jared got a softie cone with sprinkles. The ice cream was too pretty not to photograph (and I held it while he paid, so couldn’t resist). What’s up with that hair thing on my thumb all day, ha!

BTW- Jared was a trooper– on Saturday, he had a double-brick for his ironman training.  His training has really stepped up in the past couple weeks and is going to be even more intense.  A double-brick means that he started at 7:30am and biked i forgot how many miles, let’s say 25 (so about an hour and a half), then they ran for 40 minutes, then they biked another 25 miles, then ran for another 40 minutes.  With all the transition time, etc, it’s really exhausting.  So it was awesome that he was still able to get up early and have such a busy day on Sunday.

We sat on the beach for a couple hours.  I read, napped, and played in the water.  It was heaven!  We don’t have beaches like this in SF and I so wish we did!

I bought a Pineapple-Coconut Juice from Starbucks to drink.  It’s the new Evolution Brand that I feel like “everyone” is talking about lately.  Have you tried it?  It’s pure fruit, no sugars or anything added.  I thought it was pretty good.  I don’t often buy juice, but the next time I’m in the mood for it, I’d probably buy it again.

I also bought TWO water bottles because I was so dehydrated all day.

Around 4, we met Jared’s friend at the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica. We walked a while before eating an early dinner at a Mexican restaurant.

The promenade always has street performers (a lot of musicians, break dancers, this weird clown, etc) and is really lively. It was extra crowded on Sunday.  I shopped a little while the boys talked (didn’t buy anything) before we went in to dinner.

The restaurant was really dark inside so I didn’t bother taking photos, but I got a salad with chicken, avocado, corn, carrots, etc and ate one of Jared’s tostada appetizer.  It was all good and gets an 8 out of 10 for bar/Mexican food (I think this place is better known for it’s margaritas than entrees, so I was surprised….just sayin’)

And then before I knew it, we were back at the airport ready to fly home.  I randomly ran into a guy I went on a trip to Israel with like 4 years ago and hadn’t seen since then (love when that happens! and he recognized me first).

Virgin has direct TV and I watched Men in Black II for the entire flight home.

And then finally, we were home around 11.  It was a long day, but a good one.

Monday wasn’t too shabby at all either!  I’ll post it on Wednesday for WIAW, but it included a run, more shopping (good sales!), a really good lunch with friends at an outdoor restaurant on the water, and just mellow summer stuff.  I’m still not ready to go back to work after my nice long week off, but I do feel more relaxed and in a much better place than I was before my week off.  Staycation success.

Hope you had a terrific 3-day weekend!

– Are you usually hungry before an early flight? (I know a bunch of people who say they can’t eat…but I’m always hungry before)
– Have you taken any one-day trips via plane lately?
– Do you call your Aunts and Uncles “Aunt/Uncle” or just by their first name?
– Did you do anything summery this weekend? Any beach time?
– Have you tried the Evolution juices?

Today’s my Friday! I’m leaving Thursday for a super long 6-day “weekend.” We’re going to DC for a wedding and then up to New Jersey. I’m excited- I went to college in DC and it still feels like my second home, even though I haven’t been back for a while. Only problem– forecast calls for Thunderstorms every single day. Fingers crossed it changes.

Happy for another What I Ate Wednesday too! Visit Jenn’s page for more fun posts.

Here are my eats from Tuesday:

Morning exercise: The day started off with a mile long swim! I usually don’t count my laps and just swim for a specific amount of time (usually 30 mins, sometimes 45), but today I counted so I could make sure to go a whole mile. It felt great!

Breakfast was post-swim, eaten at Starbucks. Coffee with soy, an enormous banana, and a greek cobani yogurt with a spoonful of jam.

Lunch was raw swiss chard for a salad, topped with half of a leftover stuffed pepper that I was too full to eat at dinner the night before. Hit the spot. I heart leftovers.

Snacks: Juicy watermelon.

And my favorite snack lately– a version of chocolate milk: unsweetened cocoa powder, unsweetened almond milk and a spoonful of sugar, all whipped up in a blender. It’s not as chocolatey as the real thing, but does the trick when I am craving chocolate or sweets.

And dinner was a veggie plate with Swiss Chard, zucchini, and a carrot. Plus an egg topped with nutritional yeast on the side.

Hope your day is going well!

–What’s your favorite summertime food?
–What’s your favorite snack lately? I need new ideas to bring to work!

It’s probably no surprise that I love my daily cup(s) of coffee.

Sometimes, anticipating my cup of coffee is what helps me finally get up from an especially comfy bed. I also love the ritual of sipping something hot in the morning while flipping through emails or the newspaper. I love the smell of fresh coffee beans when you open a new container. And yes, I love the extra caffeine jolt that helps me start my day.

On average, I drink 2 cups of coffee a day….usually with almond milk. This morning’s cup:

I’m not a coffee snob (there are some what I would call (lovingly) “coffee snobs” in SF– they will only go to Philz or drink Blue Bottle and they scoff at Starbucks.) Nothing wrong with that, but I’m not one of those people. I just like my daily cup, wherever it’s from. And usually, I like it made out of my home coffee maker, right there in the comfort of my kitchen.

Right now, I have three different kinds of coffee in my tiny kitchen.

Kona Coffee that I brought back from my trip to Hawaii in December.

Costa Rican coffee that my sister brought me back from her trip this past January

I usually save the above two for when I am out of my “usual” beans.

And my favorite, everyday coffee tht is almost always in my kitchen (yes, from TJ’s, of course)–

Besides the “vacation” coffee, I always buy organic coffee. This TJs brand is my favorite.

So why organic? Coffee’s not one of the traditional “Dirty Dozen” of foods to buy organic. I don’t buy everything organic (I wish, but it’s just too expensive)…However, I do believe that drinking organic coffee is important enough to spend the extra bucks.

Here’s why I drink organic coffee–

1) Pesticides:
– Turns out, Coffee is the most chemically treated agricultural product on the planet.
–Coffee typically isn’t grown in the US and most of the countries where it is grown don’t regulate the use of chemicals and pesticides (true for fruits and veggies grown in these countries as well).
– The most common chemicals used in coffee production are synthetic petroleum-based fertilizers that slowly destroy the soil’s fertility and seep into local water supplies. Pertroleum? Yuck! That’s not good for our bodies, the environment, or for the people living near the farms.

2) Save the Rainforest
– Coffee naturally needs shade to grow (not in direct sunlight). The non-organic coffee industry has developed sun-resistant coffee tree hybrids that now comprise about 70% of the world’s coffee production. As a result rainforests are being cleared at alarming rates to make room for the new, sun resistant coffee trees. Yikes.
– It’s estimated that 11 million acres of land gets used exclusively for the production of coffee. There are estimates that 25% of South American rainforests have been lost to coffee production. That fact is soo sad to me.
– Organic coffee growers, however, grow their plants in the shade of the rain forest. The soil and its biodiversity provides nutrition and eliminates the need for chemical pesticides and herbicides.

3) Taste
– Do you ever notice a metallic or chemical aftertaste with conventional coffee? I do. Organic coffee does not have this.
– Conventional coffee is also tougher on your stomach since they contain gastrointestinal irritants and cancer-causing agents from the pesticides.

So there you go! Some of the reasons why I prefer organic coffee. There are many more interesting stats, but these are just the ones I thought I’d share with you. Here, here, and here are some places where I got the info for today’s post.

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This definitely isn’t pressure to buy organic coffee– I know that our budgets are all limited. But I wanted to post this because I don’t think there is enough talk about the benefits of organic coffee (and worries about conventional coffee). Every coffee drinker should at least know some of these facts and make their choices from there (I was so surprised when I first heard the rainforest stuff).

For me, if I’m starting each day off with a cup (or two) of coffee, it makes me feel better to know that I’m starting the day without pesticides and with something that isn’t causing any more trouble to the Rainforest. I’ll still go to Starbucks occasionally often, but when I can choose, I spend the extra few bucks on organic.

Coffee questions!

– How old were you when you first started drinking coffee?
– How many cups do you drink per day?
– Do you buy organic coffee? Did you already know the things I mentioned or was it new to you?

Ahhh, end of the week….almost.

My day started with early morning baking while sipping coffee.
Ghiradelli Brownies…..from a box, not scratch. Hope this doesn’t make me a bad blogger

The usual breakfast

FINALLY unpacking my suitcase

What a mess

Commute to work- blah

Work Work Work

Lunch and snacks.

This is my typical lunch and snacks this week- sweet potato, 2 hard boiled eggs for lunch, almonds and an apple for my snack....packed into a random shopping bag

More work.

Afternoon walk break to get some fresh air.

Hour+ commute home. I’ll spare you a photo of this “worst” part of every day.

Quick gym workout

Quick dinner. Shrimp+veggies.

And then BOOK CLUB. With wine. This is where I brought the brownies. Sadly, no pics…totally forgot.

So that’s how I spent my day.

You? What’s the best part of your day today?

Hey! Another Wednesday. This month, Jenn is asking for everyone to add an extra cup of veggies to their day. Sounds good to me! Except one thing…that did not happen on Monday, which was when I took pics for this post. It was moving day at my office at 8am….and I just flew in from Florida at 1am the night before. So, needless to say, I was a little scatter brained and ended up eating up a bit. Oh well.

But here ya go:

Breakfast: 6:30am. After a weekend vacation in Florida without many veggies, I was craving something green….I was also craving plenty of caffeine. Breakfast was a frozen peach, banana, and spinach Green Smoothie. And 3 cups of coffee.

Hits the spot every time

I spent the morning “helping” the movers pack up. Best part about office moving day is wearing yoga pants and sneakers to work, by the way.

Lunch: 12:30pm: Stopped at the local market on my way to the new office and got the Quinoa “Wellness” Salad. I thought extra “wellness” to this busy day could only be a good thing.

Tasted really good. Was a mix of red quinoa, lemon juice, currants, and red pepper. Plus a scoop of the chickpea quinoa (the yellow one). Sprinkled a few almonds on top. Very filling lunch.

Break: 3pm. We walked over to the new Starbucks to take a sunshine break. I got an unsweetened iced green tea. Sprinkled cinnamon on top. Was just what I needed (and the extra caffeine helped a ton).

Sipped in the midst of unpacking

Dinner: 6:30pm. I’m sad to say that I totally broke the “Don’t Eat Out” challenge today and we ate dinner out too.

Here’s my cute dinner date looking very serious while he sent a work email before our food came.

Went to a crepe/salad/sandwich place (that truthfully is probably better for brunch or lunch than dinner). I got the bbq chicken salad– a huge pile of cabbage, corn, peppers, avocado and bbq chicken. I LOVE bbq sauce, so this was really good and I ate a ton of it and was so full afterwards.

After doing a few other errands, went grocery shopping and then pretty much face planted into bed. Moving is exhausting….even WITH movers and even when it’s just at your office (not your home). Glad that day is ov-ah!

Question:
– What’s your latest favorite Starbucks/Other-Coffee-Place drink order?
– Good lunch out places near your office? There are some yummy looking ones near the new office.
– Any good eats today? Do you love BBQ sauce as much as me?

Work is so crazy this week. We’re moving offices and launching a “spring campaign” and it’s been go-go-go. It’s also been pouring rain pretty much non-stop, so it’s all quite a combo. Luckily, I’ve managed to do well on the exercise front and have def felt better because of it (sneaking in early morning and late night workouts to keep me sane).

Anyways, Happy What-I-Ate-Wednesday and Thanks for letting me be a part of it, Jenn!

7:30AM- Breakfast. Apple, HB egg, and Tall Sbucks Coffee with soy.

11:30AM- A very green Lunch. A salad with romaine, parsely, cilantro, and a pear on the side. I kept lunch light on purpose.

2pm: Snack. I had BIG plans to go to the brand new Yogurtland (we don’t have any nearby) for a giant snack this afternoon. But then the weirdest thing happened. I really didn’t feel hungry for yogurt at all. I felt like eating fats and something savory. Who am I? That never happens to me.

So, instead of my yogurt plans, I went with a nut mix and an iced coffee. This nut mix was great because I am still trying to check off my Operation SuperFoods List and so I made a combo of all the ones I’ve been missing. Hazelnuts and Pecans (which I don’t normally like much), Almonds (i can’t make s nut mix without them), Goji Berries (superfood), Currants (Superfood), and Carob chips (superfood too!). I also got an iced coffee with Hemp Milk.

Interesting fact too- see the table in the above photo? It was made out of recycled milk cartons. Neat! Recycle, people!

6pm: Dinner- A red quinoa and edamame salad that I picked up at the same store. It was really good.

Not the most photogenic and certainly not very exciting eats this week, but oh well.

And because I can never resist, a photo of my favorite furball chillin’ with his new toy, Barney.

Hope your day is going well!

- Has work been busy or slow this week?
- What’s the coolest thing you’ve seen made out of recylced materials?
- You recycle, RIGHT?
- Do you like Goji Berries? I wasn’t as big of a fan as I thought I’d be.

Surprise, surprise (ok, no surprise at all), I have a new favorite Green Smoothie combo!

In my effort to check all the 111 foods off my superfoods list, I bought frozen pineapple at Trader Joes this past weekend. And holy moly, I have been making the most delicious pineapple smoothies.

New favorite Pinapple-tastic Smoothie:

Frozen Spinach
Frozen Banana
Frozen Cut-Up Pineapple
Vanilla
Water
And…..
Blend away!! ***The pineapple took a little more blending time than some other fruits, fyi.

At work the other day, we were talking about smoothies and debating straw vs spoon. I’m DEFINITELY a straw girl. You?

Breakfast of champions. Notice how the pineapple makes the smoothie a pretty, bright green color!

I haven’t had pineapple since we were in Hawaii in December and I ate the entire thing by myself in 3 days. Frozen pineapple is my favorite TJ’s product of the week (though I could really just buy a fresh one, cut it up and freeze it myself- ha lazy girl).

Truth though– I’m not a fan of pineapple juice. You?

So just like my mango smoothie post, there are a lot of reasons why pineapple is a superfood that you should add into your smoothie. Fittingly, it’s also the start of pineapple season (March-June….so eat one this week!)

Pineapple display at the grocery store today!

Here are some fun pineapple facts:
from source and source

• Pineapple fruit contains a proteolytic enzyme bromelain that has anti-inflammatory, anti-clotting and anti-cancer properties. Studies have shown that consumption of pineapple regularly helps fight against arthritis, indigestion and worm infestation. ***worm infestation? ewww
• Fresh pineapple is an excellent source of Vitamin C, Vitamin A and beta-carotene. So eat up and to fight off winter colds.
• It’s rich in B-complex group of vitamins like folates, thiamin, pyridoxine, riboflavin and minerals like copper, manganese and potassium.
• Speaking of magnese…..a cup of pineapple chunks contains 76 percent of your daily need for manganese, an essential mineral required for the synthesis of healthy bone and cartilage.
• The pineapple, native to Brazil, was taken to Spain by Christopher Columbus in 1493 after he found it on the island of Guadaloupe.

Okay, this is really random, but did anyone else take French in Middle School or High School and watch Telefrancias with the puppet character, Anana?? I had totally forgotten about it until I googled “pineapple” this morning. Loved that show!

So, you tell me:
– Smoothies with a straw or a spoon?
– What’s your favorite thing to put pineapple in? Pizza? Fried Rice?
– Do you already add pineapple to your smoothies?
– What language did you take in High School?

Morning sunrise

Morning coffee.   x3. 

It’s 11am and I’ve had 3 cups of coffee so far!  Normal?  Or really NOT normal (unhealthy?)?  Some days I just really NEED coffee throughout the day.  And today is one of them.  So I’m going with it.  Healthy or not.

But anyways, on to more important things……

Anyone else catch the new law passed in Israel?
Supermodels MUST have a BMI of AT LEAST 18.5.  If they use photoshop on their photos, they MUST disclaim it.   article here

(photo of Israeli supermodel from above article)

Israeli lawmakers, “hope will reduce eating disorders and promote a healthy body image.”  Recently, an Israeli supermodel died of starvation.

On of the photographers says, “I look (back) 15 to 20 years ago, we shot models (sized) thirty-eight. Today, it’s twenty-four…..This is the difference between thin and too thin. This is the difference between death and life.” 

I don’t know what the equivalent those sizes are in the US, but I’m guessing a 24 is a 00.

This cartoon is a little harsh, but I included it anyways:

Really, really interesting.  This seems like a step to keeping models healthy and to make sure that youth have realistic HEALTHY body images.

I know this is a much larger issue, too big for this one short blog post, but a few questions—

Do you think this law would fly in the US?
Do you think it’s something the government should get involved with?
Do you think the new law will “work” and keep models healthy and kids’ expectations of their body realistic?

G’morning!!

Breakfast: Another rainy morning breakfast. A big cup of coffee and whole wheat sunflower seed bread with homemade walnut butter and strawberry jam. I found the walnut butter hiding in the back of the fridge- I had totally forgotten about it. Hit the spot!

While sipping my coffee, I read yesterday’s Wall Street Journal article on “Colleagues Who Can Make You Fat.” It’s all about the food temptaions and peer pressure at the office.

Let me preface this by saying that this doesn’t happen at my office. I work with all women and everyone is very exercise/health conscious…..and no one really brings in any foods to share, so it’s not an issue.

BUT, I’ve def worked in offices where it has been, so can still relate a lot.

The article says there are many kinds of co-workers who “can make you fat” or just interfere with your healthy lifestyle. They include:

• The lady who guilts you into eating something she baked or brought in. “You MUST eat it, I baked it with my special recipe!” she says and then stands at your desk until you take a bite. Really you want to say, “Umm, sorry, but I’m not hungry!”
• The baked goods birthday/celebration treats where you feel like you “have to” partake or it’s rude. When I worked in a large office, this happened at least once a week. Sometimes it was fun to have a treat but other days, I just wasn’t hungry and would rather have had something healthier. A slice of cake at 2pm just makes me sleepy anyways.
• Office meetings that are surrounded around a meal aka, the lunch meeting “catered” by the greasy pizza place or the early breakfast meeting with nothing but danishes (and whoever is running the mtg always acts like they are so nice to have ordered greasy food for you as a “treat”). This wasn’t in the article, but just my thoughts.
• The person who comments on what you’re eating, “You’re eating salad again? How boring!” Or “Eww you like tofu? That’s disgusting.”

According to thethe article, “some 29% of people on diets say colleagues pressure them to eat more, make fun of their diets or order them restaurant food they know isn’t on their diets.” Geez, that’s annoying!

All my friends who work at Google, where’s there’s AMAZING free food all day long (pretty much everything you can think of to eat, it’s there) call it the “Google 15” and say that everyone gains 15 pounds within the first few months of work.  I’ve been to lunch there and I’m so not surprised people gain weight…..with free trail mix, candy, cereals, hot cocoa, pizza, etc, I would totally get used to several “work break” visits to the cafeteria everyday.

I’ve def had co-workers in the past who comment on my food and roll their eyes if I pull out a salad. It’s really obnoxious and frankly, none of their business. Work environments are such an interesting balance– you’re with these people 40+ hours per week…..yet, some of them you may not have ever chosen to have in your life.

I’m lucky now that I work in a small and friendly office where this isn’t really an issue. Otherwise, I really feel like it’s high school peer-pressure all grown up. I’m sure most of us can just roll our eyes at this silly comments, not take it personally, and get used to not eating every baked good that sits in the staff room unless we’re actually hungry, but this article still brings up something interesting. We’ve all indulged at the office, not necessarily because we’ve wanted to, but because we felt like we had to (or just because it was “there.”) At least noticing it can help before it makes you “fat.”

Afternoon snack: Plums! Ate this at my desk. No one commented, haha. Are plums back in season? Hope soo….

What’s it like in your office? Are there baked goods or treats all the time? Do you like it or do you feel like it makes eating healthy harder? Are your co-workers exercise/health conscious?

Happy Wednesday! Blogging from an overcast and pouring rain day in SF. We need the rain like no one’s business, but it’s like Mother Nature stored up everything all season until this week and just let it all out finally! But rain= cheaper tastier produce, so no real complaints from me.

And now, time for What I Ate Wednesday, Thanks Jenn!

These are my eats from Monday. It was a weird all-over-the-place kind of day. I was getting over being sick and I had jury duty, which made my schedule far from usual. But some days are like that, so here ya go:

My morning started at 7am with a great swim in the pool. I got my own lane (everyone must have slept in because of the time change). Sweet!

8am- Breakfast. Random breakfast: Coffee with soy milk, a banana, and a handful of walnuts. Omega-3s and potassium to start the day? yes, please.

Check out the sticker, "I'm chiquita banana....." Love it!

I was on “call-back status” for jury duty, so I spent the morning working from home (in yoga pants sprawled out on the couch). I was totally expecting not to have to go in, so when the 11:30am recorded message told me that I had to “report” by 12:30 to the courthouse FORTY FIVE minutes from my house, I was way unprepared. Poor Charlie was woken up from a nap and dragged out of the house to “daycare” with me, lol. Aww, the life of a dog.

11:30am- Lunch. This was pretty early for lunch, but I wanted to eat before leaving for jury duty, so I just threw leftovers together. It sorta looked more like dinner (?). 2 chicken legs (with liquid aminos), kale (from the farmer’s market), and leftover roasted eggplant. I ate the kale in the car. Messy.

3pm- After serving my patriotic duty as a juror (thank goodness I didn’t get chosen), I went outside for a snack. Almonds (more nuts? yes of course), an apple, and an honest tea. It was my first time with the tea. It’s ok. Anyone love it?

Isn’t the courthouse pretty? Jury duty was actually not so bad– the whole process is really interesting and like one big history lesson (i’m a nerd, i love u.s. history stuff).

I did a few errands after leaving the courthouse before going home to get some more work done.

6pm- Dinner. Even with the daylight savings change, I’m still hungry early. By 6, I was more than ready to eat. Brussel sprouts and quinoa mixed with pinto beans and nutritional yeast. I got more than my fair share of nutritional yeast that day.

Snack: Later that night, I ate (unpictured) 2 pieces of toast and 2 handfuls of raisins. Raisins do not stand a chance against me. I can’t get enough. Too bad cause they are full of cals.
I got plenty of fats and protein, but I was still pretty hungry in the end of the day. Need to work on better balance, I suppose.

Have you ever been selected to be on a jury?
How often can you work from home?
Do you eat meals in the car ever?