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!

Birthday Week! September 18th

Nearly everyone I know was born this past week in September, including my "ex" (now sort of "on again") boyfriend, and my mom. But first, I have a week's worth of food to post, so let's get started!

Last Saturday I had a really early meeting downtown for my job. So I stopped in a Dunkin' Donuts on Varick St. and got my favorite kind, a chocolate covered one with sprinkles!

When I finally got out of my meeting, I had a proper breakfast since by that time, it was already brunch/lunch. I got the french toast combo with scrambled eggs and soy sausage at Quantum Leap.

Some other eats this week include...

Pizza at Ray's... I went for dinner here last Sunday when a pipe broke in our kitchen and we had a leak-- obviously making it very hard to cook!

A quick lunch at Good Stuff Diner... my favorite combo: mozzarella sticks (which are truly the BEST mozzarella sticks I've ever had!) and a tropical health smoothie. :)

For a quick boost, one day I stopped in the Jamba Juice in Union Square and got their bright eyed and blueberry smoothie! Sadly though, this has really gone downhill... not nearly as good as it used to be! :(

Today was my mom's birthday... I ran some errands this morning and stopped in Rivioli Pizzeria in the West Village for lunch.

Then later on for dinner we went to an amazing new restaurant called Sagaponack Restaurant (named after Sagaponack in the Hamptons), at 22nd st. off 5th Ave. And this restaurant really did have a very "hamptons" feel. It was beautiful!

For starters I had their pesto fries... these were INCREDIBLE! I couldn't finish them all of course, because the portion was huge!

For my entree I got the portobello mushroom tower with lots of veggies and quinoa. This was amazing as well!

Mom and I got our desserts "to go" because we were so full! I got the banana cream pie, and the funny thing is, I don't even like bananas (as in, I don't ever eat the fruit by itself), but this is the one banana themed food I like!

As for Peanut, I recently got him a new toy at Petco. Glow in the dark balls to keep him occupied at night!

So Happy Birthday to Mom and everyone else this week!

Eats & Cuteness ~ February 24th

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! I appreciate them! I've still been depressed and not feeling well lately, so really some of the only times I "eat" are when I go out to get food I really like. I basically survive off of Naked Juice and Odwalla Juice because it's one of the only things I can stomach. (I think my hormones are still screwed up from those damn birth control pills I quit taking a month ago now.) Anyways, here are some of my eats over the past few days...

My parents took me out to my favorite Italian restaurant Sunday night for another birthday dinner. We went to I Tre Merli Bistro in the West Village. (This was my greatest restaurant find in the past year... everyone I take here is blown away by it!)

I got my favorite, penne alla vodka! :)

I went to Dang Lai Palace earlier this week too... this was my first vegetarian asian restaurant find, because I used to live up the block from this place on 3rd Ave. when it opened back in 2007 (this restaurant was the "replacement" for Zen Palette that closed in Union Square, which was terrific-- the one on 9th Ave., not so much). But now since I've discovered so many other places (like Wild Ginger, Qi Asian Eatery, Sea Thai Bistro, etc.), this place seems only mediocre at best.

Their taro spring rolls aren't really that good in comparison to what I'm used to now!

I got their wonton soup, which is good, although the wontons are tiny!

Their steamed veggie dumplings though, for some reason I could barely stomach! The coating is just too thick and it almost has an aftertaste. Wild Ginger's steamed veggie dumplings have spoiled me forever!

Still, they have some of the most delicious cheesecake I've ever had, which is reason enough to go! It's just so creamy!

Later on that day I went to Jamba Juice to get a smoothie. I like to get the "aloha pineapple" one, without bananas (because I can't stand them!). I always get the free "immunity boost" added to it (which can't hurt, especially with the weather we've been having in NY!).

Today I wasn't feeling well again (headache and whatnot), so I didn't end up eating until later this afternoon. I was out and decided to go to the Spice in Union Square-- big mistake! The place was PACKED. Not a single table and people were actually waiting in line to get them. So I decided to just have what I wanted delivered to my apartment. They took forever and I was starving, but I am addicted to their food, so it's the price you have to pay I guess! lol

Peanut was all ready and waiting on the table when the food finally came!

I got their spring rolls...

and their broad rice noodles with tofu.

One of Peanut's favorite activities is getting the way of the refrigerator door when we open it! lol This is something he's been doing since he was a baby... I think it's an attention maneuver, and you know what? It works! He's so frigging cute!

And I'll leave you with more cuteness... here's a picture I came across on MSN today... a kitten that's befriended a squirrel! :)

P.S. ~ Does anyone know what happened to Taylor's Joy of Food blog or the Peanut Butter Bliss one? I feel so out of the loop when blogs just disappear! :(

Daily Eats ~ June 24th

It's that time of the month and I've been having terrible PMS symptoms. :( Last night I got a bad headache that I woke up with this morning-- although I think it's finally going away now (thank God!). Anyways, I'm still stressing over this kitten thing... so again, if you can, please spread the word to everyone you know (in the NY area) about Peanut's sister needing a home! I'd really appreciate it!

Anyways, I thought I'd share some pics my Mom took of me and Peanut last night... he loves to sleep on us, it's so cute!

Breakfast:

I had 2 Van's Belgian Waffles with TJ's Maple Syrup and some strawberries. I topped the waffles with a bit of real whipped cream (I think this is a GREAT alternative to butter! Just as tasty and way less cals/fat!). I also had an Apple & Eve juice box with it.

Lunch:

I had breakfast for lunch! Amy's new Breakfast Scramble Wrap. This was pretty tasty, although a bit dry...

Snack:

I happened to be going by a Jamba Juice this afternoon, and the line wasn't long (for a change!), so I decided to go in. I got a "Aloha Pineapple," minus the bananas (because I hate them! lol). So instead they substituted for more strawberries, which was fine by me! I got a sixteen ounce by the way (which is expensive enough!). It was really good and hit the spot on this very humid day.

When I came home I realized that they didn't offer me a free "boost" like they used to! :( Oh well.

Dinner:

I had my last 2 Tofu Pups wrapped in my last 2 Pillsbury crescent rolls (I had some ketchup on the side for dipping). I made an Annie's single serve Mac & Cheese and added in a single serving packet of Birds Eye Steamfresh Peas. (Sorry the pic came out blurry!)

Peanut eyeing the mac & cheese! :)

Dessert:

I had a chocolate Vitamuffin with Nutella and a single sliced strawberry. (Yes, another blurry picture... wtf is wrong with me?! lol)

Still no word on finding someone to adopt Peanut's sister... I'm keeping my fingers crossed that someone contacts me though!

I still have no word on whether or not I'll be working at Sephora (or which one) either! And that job interview was over 3 weeks ago. {See here} I did speak to the regional director of Sephora today though, so I guess she's supposed to get back to me soon on where I'll be working (if at all).

And the headache that I told you about earlier did go away, but then along came the cramps! I absolutely hate periods. I know that it's good that I get them again though, because I didn't get them for all of 2007 and some of 2008! The saddest thing of all, is that I didn't know ONE model who had regular periods. There's nothing "natural" about how skinny models are today, folks. I really feel for young girls today, growing up and aspiring to be skinny like them, not knowing what the consequences are. :(

Again, I appreciate the comments, so keep them coming!

xoxo