My Birthday :) February 20th

It's that time of year again... my birthday! I decided to have my birthday dinner at Blossom, and I invited fellow bloggers Melissa and Shannon. Peanut was a little upset he wasn't included! lol

Earlier today I went to the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle (where they filmed one of my favorite more recent movies, Enchanted!). I did some shopping at the gigantic Whole Foods there first and got a "peach perfection" smoothie at Jamba Juice.

Then I headed over to Blossom. It never ceases to amaze me how good their food is. If I only knew their secret, I'd be the happiest vegan on the planet! :)

Melissa and I shared our appetizers because we both wanted to try more than one!

I started off by getting their porcini flutes.

And Melissa got their ravioli with cashew cream.

I really liked both, and they tasted very similar (both were mushroom filled). Don't let the green (pesto) sauce on mine scare you, it is SO good! And normally I wouldn't touch something that looked so, uh... odd!

I also got a side of their mashed potatoes, which truly was their all-star dish. I have NEVER eaten better mashed potatoes than this! It was worth the extra $6!!!

For my main course I got their lasagna. It never ceases to amaze me how good this is. You really don't miss regular cheese at all!

(Melissa took the photos of the food because her camera's flash was working better than mine. So thanks Melissa!)

And here we are at dinner!

(Our nice waiter took the photo)

Afterwards we ran into Cocoa V (Blossom's vegan dessert place across the street). I further bankrupted myself by getting a cupcake (hey, it's my birthday, and what's another $3 after what we had already spent?!).

This was really good and it was a closer vegan dessert place than Babycakes. The cupcake is chocolate and the frosting is vanilla (and my favorite color too!).

Overall, I'm okay being another year older. I'm not that old anyway. And I feel like I keep learning and growing. I'm in a better place in my life, healthier, and you know what? It shows! :)

I'm going to be doing a post on product reviews and recipes next, so more soon!

The moving re-cap & more! January 30th

This past week has been such a blur. Naturally on our moving day (Wednesday) was a blizzard, but somehow we forged ahead and got moved into our new apartment (which is truly a PALACE compared to where we were staying in Manhattan!). We're on the top floor now, which we deserve after having to listen to people stomp around above us for the past two years, living on the first floor! Peanut is still adjusting and doesn't really know what to make of it. But every day he's doing better and not hiding as much. And of course, I've been finding some eats here and there around Astoria! So let's get to it!!

The first night we were SO tired. We had all we could do to order pizza! Luckily there is a good pizza place near by called Salerno's that we ordered from. (The first place we tried, Rizzo's, was a disaster! The most horrible pizza we've ever seen! But hey, you live and learn!)

(Notice, no plates! Only paper towels that first night!)

I have found the BEST chocolate chip cookies EVER. They are HUGE and VEGAN too!!! I happened upon them at Sai Organics, a chain of health food stores here in Astoria (there's only two of them I believe, both on 30th Ave.). They make a lot of their own organic and vegan foods, so I'll be stopping by there often!!

Yesterday I met my friend Melissa for brunch at Grand Cafe. It was nice to see a familiar face, especially since I don't know a soul around here! lol

Their pre-fixe brunch was good (although they DID rip us off for getting egg whites!!). They started off by giving us some mini muffins...

Then we had a choice of drink and coffee or tea. I chose an orange juice and tea.

For my entree I had an egg white omelette with avocado and tomato with french fries (and it came with a side of whole wheat toast).

(These fries were SOOO good too-- they reminded me of McDonald's fries, which I haven't had in ages!!)

Melissa and I will be attending an event this Wednesday hosted by LightLife that we are really looking forward to, that I can't wait to blog about!! So stay tuned for that!!

On my way home from brunch I stopped in the other Sai Organics store (the one further from me) and saw that they had a new Luna Bar! Of course I had to get it!

I tried this today and it was okay. The chocolate chunk flavor could have been better if they added a layer of chocolate or icing of some sort at the bottom (like most Luna bars... my favorites being iced oatmeal raisin and the cookies & cream one).

And today I stopped in Mt Olympus Bagels to make my bagel sandwich that I like (with swiss cheese-- yes, I cannot sustain a vegan diet!!!).

(I had another favorite, a Mott's peach medley apple sauce with it.)

As for Peanut, he hid (which is unlike him) for most of the first two days we were in the new apartment (as you can see!).

But he's coming out of hiding more and more, and is back to his usual tricks!

(He's licking my valentine ring pop!)

I am happy in our new place though. It is so quiet, and the view is gorgeous. It really reminds me of those roof top scenes in Mary Poppins!

Ok, well our "fun" doesn't end there. Tomorrow we have to go back to our old apartment in Manhattan and tie up some loose ends (like taking down our wall, going through the apartment inspection, etc.). So it's going to be yet another busy week ahead! And everyone please PRAY that we are spared another blizzard this week! All of us here in NY truly can't take much more!!!

Gloomy Days & Good Eats ~ September 30th

Sorry I'm just updating again-- I wanted to post more this month, but things kept coming up! This past week (especially today!) has been the rainiest, gloomiest weather... it's downright depressing! I can't wait for the good fall weather that is coming soon! It is truly the best season in NYC! :)

On Tuesday I had a blogger meet-up with my friend, Melissa. We went to our usual spot in the Meatpacking District, Sea Thai Bistro.

I got my usual, the spring rolls & broad rice noodles with tofu.

We had a good time as always, and I'm sure we'll be back soon!

I've been under my usual stress and this weather doesn't help matters... it seems to trigger migraines in me, and the past few days have not been pretty. The other night I went to bed early and when I woke up I was starving, so I sat down to a proper breakfast at Friend of a Farmer.

I got their special, which includes scrambled eggs, home fries, french toast, and I opted for fruit instead of bacon, sausage, etc. I also treated myself to an amazing glass of fresh squeezed orange juice.

For lunch today I ordered in from Suzie's, a chinese restaurant in the village.

I got their bean curd homestyle (tofu) lunch special, which came with vegetarian wonton soup, rice, and a vegetarian egg roll.

And here are some photos of Peanut that I took...

In a new box, which he loves to lounge in!

Sneaking up on me in my room!

That cute little white mug of his always gets him out of trouble! lol

Anyways, here's hoping for a great fall! :)

Blog Award & Lunch Meet-up! July 21st

Just a quick post today, but yesterday I was informed that my blog won an award! I'm especially pleased about this one because my blog was chosen as one of the top eating disorder blogs! And I'm always so happy to hear that it's helped anyone struggling with or trying to overcome an eating disorder, because I know how hard it is! You can see a complete list of winners here, but here's the award!

So thanks to Emma and Dennis, who chose to recognize my blog! It's always appreciated!

(Oh and Peanut thanks you too! ;)

Today I went to lunch with my friend Melissa at our usual spot, Sea Thai Bistro in the Meatpacking District.

I got their spring rolls, which tasted pretty much the same, but were presented differently than other times.

And for my entree I got my usual favorite, broad rice noodles with tofu.

We had a good time as always! They were filming something up the block from us, so we checked it out after lunch, but unfortunately we saw no celebrities. :( Still, they are ALWAYS shooting something in the Meatpacking District and we've both seen various celebrities down there!

Also, I've complete my guest post for Maggie's blog and it should be up sometime next week! And I wish her and Bobby all the best for their wedding this Saturday!!! :)

Oh, and please wish Caronae well! She just had a major health scare. Luckily she is alright though!!

Blogger Meet-up & Other Eats! May 26th

I've been meaning to post for a few days now, but you know how it goes... I'll start with some of my eats from last weekend...

Saturday:

A strawberry-pineapple smoothie from the street fair on my block.

Then later I had brunch at Sacred Chow.

I got their delicious tofu scramble! It was my first time trying it there and I really liked it. It came with hash browned potatoes and your choice of salad or fruit. I opted for the fruit. ;)

Sacred Chow is always slow, being that the restaurant is tiny and they are terribly understaffed. But taking that into account, they have a pretty good attitude there and try their best. They even apologized to me for taking so long (and I didn't even complain!). That's an example of good customer service. For a bad example, see my posts below on Blossom (and they STILL haven't offered me any apology for the "incident").

Sunday:

I had dinner with my parents at I Tre Merli. We go to I Tre Merli Bistro often (in the West Village), but we decided to try the newly renovated, bigger version downtown (in Soho on West Broadway).

Their food was good as usual, but sadly there were some disappointments. One, their penne alla vodka had bacon in it (!!) and it did not say so on the menu (despite their claims). Luckily they did bring the dish out without the bacon pretty quickly. But the second problem was that the portions were TINY. They literally were appetizer sized!! Their "bistro" in the West Village is WAY better than this place. We never should have strayed! LOL

We were still so hungry afterwards that we went to Baskin Robbins!

I got a praline cheesecake ice cream cone. It was okay, but I wasn't that wild about it (which is weird because I usually LOVE anything cheesecake!).

Yesterday I tried the new Spice restaurant that opened up in Chelsea (at 22nd St. & 8th Ave.). What's strange is that they opened up a new one on top of the one they already had on 20th St. & 8th Ave.! None the less, I liked the new location better because it looked more like a restaurant (was more roomy) and wasn't so crowded.

I got my usual though... spring rolls & broad black noodle with tofu.

This afternoon Katharina and I finally got to meet! Coincidentally it was her birthday too! She wanted to try Lula's Sweet Apothecary, which is a vegan ice cream place in the East Village (on East 6th St. b/w Ave. A & B). She picked a great day to go, being that it was miserably hot out here in NYC! (I am not a summer person, in case you couldn't guess! lol). But none the less we had a great time chatting and the ice cream was good too!

I got a cookies & cream cone. Oh, and this tasted like real ice cream! So for your non-dairy ice cream I'd go here instead of Stogo (see my review of Stogo here).

It's funny, Katharina pointed out that it was like we had met before because we almost seemed like old friends, rather than new acquaintances! That's the power of modern technology I guess!

Last but not least, some pictures of my "fatty," (aka "Peanut" ;)!

Don't worry, he's not really fat... his belly just looks that way when it's all flattened out!

That's all for today, my lovelies!

Nice Lunch, Bad Brunch! May 17th

I don't know if I'm just going through an unlucky streak with restaurants or not, but I have quite a doozy for you all (read below!). But first, I met up with my friend Missy for lunch today at our usual spot, Sea Thai Bistro in the Meatpacking District.

I had the usual... spring rolls & broad rice noodles with tofu. We had a good time like always!

I got some cute shots of Peanut yesterday too...

Now you all know that I LOVE Blossom and have raved about this place many times (in fact Gabriela and I just had an incredible dinner there a few weeks ago!). But an unfortunate incident with an INCREDIBLY rude hostess at Sunday's brunch has left me with a "sour taste" in my mouth, to say the least! On to the story...

I hadn't made a reservation since it was just myself. The hostess walked up to me and asked me if I had a reservation, and I said, "No, because I didn't think I needed one for just myself," or something to that effect. Then she said, "Well I don't know if I have room for you," and proceeded to look at her seating chart. She then was then saying all this confusing crap about which tables she had available and when, and said something about 2 o'clock… and then I finally said to her, "Look, do you want me to leave or not?" Then she had the nerve to say to me, "Wow, you're really aggressive!" I said, "I'm not being aggressive, but I just don't understand if you want me to leave or not." So finally I got it out of her that yes, there was a table available, and that I'd have to leave by 2. Which gave me plenty of time. She then reluctantly seated me! I absolutely could not BELIEVE her nerve. How dare she say I was being "aggressive" when I was speaking in a completely normal tone?! If anything she was acting like she wanted me to leave!!! YET, there were plenty of tables open! And guess what, the WHOLE time I was there (all 20 minutes at most?), there were several open tables. So you know what Blossom? F*** You!

The problem with Blossom is that they really do fit the stereotype of a vegan restaurant. They have a snooty and "holier than thou" attitude that really bothers me, despite how much I like their food! I really don't know if I even want to go back there again after this incident, because just the fact that they could speak to me that way after I've been such a good customer is unbelievable. They may be cruelty free to animals (which I applaud, of course), but what about their customers?!

I wrote a very good e-mail to them today, explaining the situation, so I'd better hear some sort of apology from the manager... I'll let you all know if I do!

Oh yeah, and I got the french toast! lol And funny... it wasn't as good as I had remembered it to be! Maybe I had just lost my appetite by then, who knows...

Now, if you'll excuse me I'm going to go indulge myself with the cheesecake Mom made this weekend! :)

So how about you guys... any rude restaurant stories to share? Have any of you actually had someone pick a fight with you because you didn't make a reservation (for one person!)? Am I over-reacting or do they owe me an apology?

Pizzas, Fro Yo, & a Lovely Blogger Dinner! May 3rd

I have some new (and a few old) eats to share, including a wonderful blogger dinner to rave about! So lets get to it!

Friday Mom and I did our weekly (or bi-weekly?) cleaning and ordered some pizza for dinner. We decided to order it from Rivoli's in the West Village. Ironically we had forgotten all about this place somehow, and we used to go to it all the time back when I came into the city for modeling jobs (before we even lived here!). I highly recommend them and their delivery is excellent!

Since it's been so miserably hot and humid here these past few days, I thought it would be a great time to try Red Mango's new fruit parfait! So yesterday I went to the Red Mango near me and got one.

Here's what it's supposed to look like:

Here's what it actually looked like (forgive the poor picture!):

I got mine without bananas (because I hate them, lol) and it was pretty good. HOWEVER, you really get very little yogurt in this... it was mainly just strawberries & blueberries! So as you can imagine, I was hungry shortly after I ate it. NOT a good value for the money. But a clever idea none the less!

I also tried one of Kashi's new pizzas for dinner one night this weekend...

I thought their margherita pizza was excellent! Even better than the mushroom one that I've tried before. I couldn't finish the whole pizza, but I ate a good portion. The crust is VERY thin, so it's not that filling.

Despite the hot weather, Peanut still wanted to cuddle in the laundry this weekend! lol

Cleaning himself...

For lunch today I went to the Spice in Union Square because I was craving my usual...

Spring rolls & broad rice noodles in soy sauce with tofu.

And for dinner tonight I had the pleasure of meeting up with Gabriela (from the Une Vie Saine blog). She is going home this week and won't be back until she returns to school here in the fall (or hopefully visits this summer?), so we decided to have dinner at Blossom before she left. While I've had many delicious brunches here, this was my first time trying their dinner menu and because I've heard such great things, I was excited! Luckily everything exceeded our expectations! :)

We decided to split an appetizer (being that they are SO pricy!). We got the porcini flutes, which were basically stuffed mushrooms in pastry. We both thought they were delicious! If only they had given us more though!!!

For my entree I got their lasagna. And as an Italian (or, half-Italian :), I've got to say I was SHOCKED how good this was. It truly fell under the "I can't believe it's vegan!" category. It was excellent!

For dessert I got their cheesecake, which was very good (although I still prefer the real thing more!).

Overall I was VERY impressed. I can totally see why Blossom is consistently rated the "best vegetarian restaurant" in the city! They definitely live up to their hype and Gabriela and I were astonished at how they managed to make the food taste NON vegan. :)

I also want to take a moment to say that I LOVE the feeling after I eat a vegan restaurant. Similar to my experiences at Wild Ginger, after my meal at Blossom I felt pleasantly full, but not stuffed, and I felt that everything we ate was top-of-the-line quality. If only I wish rich and could eat that way every night! Or perhaps I just need to marry a veggie chef?! lol

Tell me, what do you like about vegan or vegetarian restaurants/food?