Happy Independence Day! July 4th

I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend! I figured I'd catch up on some blogging... Here are some of my eats from the past week!

Pizza at Pomodoro in Soho

Chocolate chip cheesecake from Whole Foods (amazing!!!)

Lunch at Friend of a Farmer, which included a piece of cornbread with apple butter and a pasta and veggie dish (I've gotten this before and this is SO good... the quality of their veggies is incredible! I've eaten here a few times recently and been quite impressed!!)

This morning Mom made some blueberry pancakes! (I put on maple syrup after the picture)

And after going to the Chelsea Whole Foods (which was dead quiet today because of the holiday!) I stopped in a restaurant for lunch called Il Bastardo. I got penne with vodka sauce. Unfortunately though, the portion was TINY for the price! I was really unhappy about that, although their food was pretty good. Still, the best penne alla vodka is at I Tre Merli Bistro in the West Village (see here)!

Peanut's been busy bug chasing! Look at how alert he is!

Don't worry, we don't have an infestation or anything, but in the summertime a lot of flies find their way inside...

He still likes one wintertime activity though, and that's napping in the warm laundry!

It's going to be SUPER hot out here in NYC this week. It almost makes me miss the winter! Everyone say a prayer that we don't have another blackout again!!! :(

That's all for now, folks!

A whole year of Peanuts! :) April 29th

I know I said I'd try to update last weekend, but being that today is the 1 year anniversary since we got little Peanut, I wanted to save the post for then! It's hard to believe a whole year has gone by. Peanut was such a tiny baby when we brought him. He actually wobbled around because he wasn't used to walking and he was just off his mother's milk! :) But he learned quickly and grew to be such a healthy, strong boy! The picture at the top of this blog is from that night, but here are a few others as well...

Even though he was 6 1/2 weeks old when we got him, he was unusually tiny for his age (hence the name!). What a precious baby though!!

Now, on to the eats!

Last Friday I met my friend Melissa over at Sea Thai Bistro (which is our usual lunch spot). I LOVE Sea Thai and the Meatpacking District for that matter! And it was a nice day, so we sat outside for a change.

I got their delicious spring rolls...

and their broad rice noodles with tofu.

Other "eats" include...

A bagel from Murray's with swiss cheese and some baked chips (and a coke because I was DEAD tired - our neighbors above us like to stay up all night on weekends - damn them).

A Cadbury "Picnic" bar... which includes nuts and raisins! It was pretty good! (I find all sorts of unique chocolate bars at Fairway Market.)

And I got some pizza this week downtown at Pomodoro's.

Unfortunately it seems their pizza has gone downhill quite a bit. It just wasn't as good as it used to be! :(

Here are some pictures of "grown up" Peanut that I've taken over the past week...

Monkeying in front of the refrigerator (again).

Rolling around by my dinner plate! Something about Trader Joe's Pasta Medley excites him! lol

"Duddying" around on the chair!

And stopping to smell the roses! LOL

Valentine's Day Blues & Brunch ~ February 13th

I am definitely not in the Valentine's Day spirit this year after the fiascos with my "boyfriend." I was half tempted to title this post "F*** Valentine's Day!" lol But that wouldn't be fair to all of you wishing to enjoy your holiday. :) Oh well, Peanut will be my valentine this year. And I know all of you are jealous... he's young, great looking, and doesn't make me watch sports. :) In fact, I was in CVS the other day and found this valentine that reminded me of him...

It has a dismal amount of candy in it, but the kitten looks like Peanut, so I got it anyway! (Note Peanut in the background. :)

I went to Qi Asian Eatery (one of my favorite places) the other day. It has really become quite popular since it opened last fall. Around 1 o'clock the place was PACKED. The lunch specials are an amazing value at around $7 with free appetizer... I got my usual, spring rolls and pineapple fried rice with tofu.

Mom and I ordered pizza from Pomodoro last night...

Today I had the pleasure of having brunch with Melissa (from Missy Maintains) and Maggie (from Say Yes to Salad). Maggie and I have wanted to meet for a while now, so the three of us decided to meet up at Blossom for brunch. I was pretty sure that I was going to get the french toast again (see here), but I happened to see someone else eating the tofu scramble, and it looked so good that all 3 of us ended up getting it!

You had a choice of greens or fries, so being that I usually say no to salad (play on words here lol), I opted for the fries and wasn't disappointed! All of us really liked the tofu scramble and I was glad that I tried something different for a change!

After brunch Maggie and I decided to go over to the Chelsea Whole Foods that was nearby. We did some shopping and I got this vegan cupcake. It was tasty, although I ended up mainly eating the top of it!

For dinner Mom made a favorite of mine, eggplant parmesan with spaghetti.

For my snack tonight I decided to make my almond parfait, which consists of a plain fage 0% yogurt, mixed with maple syrup & a dash of vanilla extract, slivered almonds, chocolate chips, and topped with amber agave nectar.

And my baby Peanut turns 11 months old today! Here are some recent pics of him going about his day! :)

In the bathtub, a favorite spot of his to play.

Using the litter box. Perhaps a little too personal of a pic, but it's so cute how he always perches the same foot up on the edge of the box! lol

Drinking peach yogurt smoothie out of the cap... he loves peach flavored things!

On top of the unopened boxes we still have not gotten rid of from our "move."

Ok everyone, enjoy your Valentine's Day and the long weekend!

Weekend Wrap-Up (December 13th)

I had a busy weekend... one of my best friends came in from Boston for a photo shoot. She had asked me weeks in advance to do her makeup, and of course I was happy to do it. I hadn't seen her in SO long (we used to see each other a lot more when we had modeling stuff to do in NYC together). So I got up very early Saturday morning and she came to my apartment bright and early. She loved the job I did, and apparently so did the photographer, so I may be getting more work after all. :) I walked her to the correct subway station afterwards, and on my way home (in the FREEZING cold, might I add), I stopped into a Dunkin' Doughnuts and got my favorite... a chocolate covered doughnut with sprinkles (sorry, no pic, it was early and I was tired and hungry!). Then later on I had a healthy brunch at one of my favorite spots, Sacred Chow (on Sullivan St. in Greenwich Village). Here's what I had...

Banana bread french toast with blueberry sauce! I also got their hot chocolate "to go." Everything they make is vegan, and their hot chocolate has the most unique taste... almost like it's base is coconut milk... I don't know their secret, but it's great!

Sacred Chow is the first vegetarian restaurant I ever fell in love with (you can see more about it here, along with baby pictures of Peanut!). And I swear, the "word of mouth" I have given this place over the years must've caught on. lol The place was PACKED by around 2 in the afternoon on Saturday! I was lucky that I got one of the small tables that I did, because there were people literally waiting in line to get a table. It's a very small restaurant, and back when I started going in 2007, it was empty most of the time. I guess vegan restaurants are starting to catch on! Their food really is amazing!!

Later on Mom and I got pizza for dinner... from Pomodoro's. We both preferred their regular pizza to their vodka pizza that we tried last time.

Peanut, who turns 9 months old today(!!) still loves to wave his arms around his head (aka "the duddy")... this is something we thought he may outgrow, but as you can see, he hasn't (thank goodness! ;). Look at how lovely he poses!

And he's been spending a lot of time cuddling in warm laundry lately (and who could blame him with this weather?!).

As for me, I mostly spent the day indoors, as it was POURING rain all day. It was SO nice to sleep in, because yesterday I not only had to get up early to do my friend's makeup, but we got next to NO sleep with our upstairs neighbor's shenanigans... which brings me to my next point, we're trying to find a HOUSE to rent in either Brooklyn or Queens, but hopefully Brooklyn. Over the past 3 years apartment living is really starting to wear on us! :( So I've been spending my time looking for places to live... these next few weeks, and especially next month is going to be crazy, but I'm looking forward to moving out of here!! Take my words of wisdom... NYC is a WONDERFUL place to live, but it's a HORRIBLE place to sleep! The end!

Daily Eats ~ November 30th

Decided to do a "daily eats" post today to finish off the month (which flew by!). My personal life has been it's usual chaotic state. If anybody's seen my boyfriend, please let me know! lol In all seriousness though, I barely even have a boyfriend anymore, due to a whole host of problems (much of which that he's created). But in all fairness, this economy is ruining everybody's lives. Men do not do well under financial pressures... as a result, I've gone on the back burner. But enough about my problems... I met a friend for drinks and cheesecake this weekend and I'm happy to report that I'm not eating as healthy as I should, and you know what? I just don't care! And there is truly something magical about not caring. I basically eat whatever I want now and I'm happy with that. I've come along way and I'm proud of that fact. :)

Breakfast:

I had some orange juice and 3 of these adorable mini chocolate chip muffins that I got on sale at the Whole Foods Market this week!

Lunch:

I was in the mood for a nice omelette, and went to a famous restaurant downtown called Jane (on West Houston St.). I got an egg white omelette with a side of toast. It was good, but I was a little thrown by the goat cheese that they put in it... I'm not really a fan I suppose. lol Next time I have to try their french toast, which I hear is excellent!

Snack:

Ok, so it's not quite Christmas yet! But December is already upon us, and I found this chocolate Santa while I was browsing CVS today. I had it after lunch, as I didn't eat much of the omelette.

Later on I had a strawberry Wallaby organic yogurt with some Kashi GoLean Honey Almond Flax cereal on top.

Dinner:

Mom and I got a pizza from Pomodoro's. They are famous for their vodka sauce, so we tried their vodka pizza. It was good, but I think I still prefer their regular that I've gotten a few other times at the restaurant (you can see the difference between the slices here).

Dessert:

Ok kids, this is the real deal. I'm obsessed with these Betty Crocker Warm Delight bowls! And their new one, creamy chocolate cake is HEAVEN. Enough said!

Peanut has been getting into EVERYTHING lately and last night he broke the cute owl salt shaker that I got for my Mom. Speaking of which, does anyone want to adopt him?! lol Just kidding of course, he's my fluffy little boy.

Daily Eats & Observations ~ August 27th

Lately my usual eating schedule has been a bit "off," but I find that when I do reach for food, there is nothing off limits. I basically eat whatever I want. And I'm okay with the fact that I'm not a size 0. A size 6 is fine, and actually is what most men prefer anyway! (So ladies, why the hell are we killing ourselves to be so damn skinny?!) Eating whatever you want is not necessarily a good thing, but for me I find that it is. Pizza, pasta, bagels, cheesecake... and I'm still losing or maintaining my weight! Who'd have guessed?! lol Don't worry though, I haven't completely lost my mind. I still eat some healthy things... fruit, veggies, etc. I think it really comes down to how much you eat, not what you eat. But I think I've finally gotten to a good place for myself, where I'm comfortable really eating what I want, and I'm not afraid of getting "fat." I'm actually eating now how I've always dreamed of being able to eat. After spending years afraid of so many foods and being unhappy about it all, I feel like I'm finally able to let go...

Here's a pic I took of myself today on my MacBook...

I went downtown early this afternoon, and had lunch at Pomodoro's (famous for their vodka pizza :). As you can see I'm really slipping when it comes to remembering to take pictures of what I eat! I was half way through when I remembered! lol I guess I was really hungry! ;)

After lunch I went to my second home-- the Bowery Whole Foods Market. This is hands down, the most beautiful grocery store in all of New York City. The isles are HUGE, it is never too crowded, they have a great selection, and the place is spotless!

I couldn't help but get on of their fresh baked vegan chocolate chip cookies!

And here's a pic I got of Peanut (mid blink! lol) while he was playing on my bed this afternoon.