Finally Feels Like Fall! September 9th

I don't know about you, but I am SO glad that this horrible hot weather has come to an end. I walked down into Soho today and it was so beautiful out! I happened to see Heidi Klum's mother too, pushing Heidi's new baby girl, Lou in a stroller. lol I almost ALWAYS see famous people in Soho. But the amazing thing about NYC is that everyone just blends in!

I was picking up some birthday presents today at my favorite store in the city, Pearl River Mart. This is a HUGE, beautiful store, with great prices and nearly everything is hand made! There is no other store I can think of like it. Nearly everyone I know is born in September, including my mother, so it's definitely a busy month for me!

I always have to stop in Famous Ben's pizzeria every time I'm downtown. :)

But lately I've been eating asian food 24/7! Here is the proof:

Lunch at Spice (last weekend I went to the one in Union Square).

Spring rolls & broad rice noodle with tofu.

An oldie, but a goodie... my favorites from Wild Ginger...

Take-out from a new thai restaurant called Tue Thai Food (on Greenwich Ave. by 6th Ave. & West 8th St.).

I got their $9 lunch special, which is a great bargain and includes choice of appetizer, entree, and drink!

I tried their spring rolls, pad se ew (which is basically the same dish as the one I got at Spice, above), and a coke. I really like this place, and I read such bad things about their delivery, and I don't know if it's because I live pretty close by or not, but they were lightning fast!!!

The one thing I'll miss about summer is of course, frozen yogurt. On the last hot day we had I made a short trip over to Pinkberry.

I got a medium original with strawberries, cookies & cream, and brownie chunks! :)

Here are a few recent pics of Peanut... the first ones are of him monkeying around in my room (his favorite activity!).

And sleeping with Pellet (his beanie baby).

Tonight for dinner I actually cooked with tofu (the packaged kind that you have to drain yourself) for the first time in my life, and Peanut went nuts! For some reason he loves tofu (and the seasoning from Fantastic Foods Tofu Scrambler), and he was rolling around by my plate (as you can see)! lol

(Oh and those are Morningstar Farms soy sausages btw!)

I'll probably be updating more soon with all the birthday dinners, etc. So stay tuned!

Daily Eats, Dramas & Trader Joe's (April 7th)

I've actually been eating well this week, as opposed to last week, when I was too stressed to eat much at all! And this morning I braved the crowds and headed to Trader Joe's and got a huge haul (posted below)! Plus, there is something else I want to address... This is going to be a LONG post, so please indulge me! First, here are some of my eats over the past few days...

I had something old and something new at Qi Asian Eatery the other day...

Spring rolls (which I always get).

And instead of my usual pineapple fried rice, I tried their pad see euw dish, which was very similar to the black or broad rice noodle dish that I get at Spice and Sea Thai Bistro. Only, their's was a little more seasoned... garlic, I think. Either way, it was very good and I'd definitely get it again!

I had another slice of Mom's delicious cheesecake (that she made for Easter) with strawberries! With the strawberries added, it almost tasted like strawberry shortcake cheesecake, which is really spectacular! :)

And I had lunch down in Soho the other day at Famous Ben's Pizzeria (which is always worth the crowds!).

For dinner the other night I decided to pair something healthy was something that's, well.. not. Blake's macaroni & cheese with a Birds Eye Steamfresh baby potato veggie blend!

And now, on to my Trader Joe's haul!

Challah Rolls, swiss cheese, pasta medley, Fage 0% yogurts x 2, and eggplant parmesan.

Garden vegetable lasagne x 2 (one of my faves!), spinach & broccoli quiches, and their meatless corn dogs.

Chocolate lava cakes, ice cream sandwiches, chocolate chip brownie bowls, macaroons, 100 calorie milk chocolate bars, and a Toblerone. (Yes, I went a little nuts, but I plan on making my sweets haul last for a while... I do like to have a bit every day though. ;)

Multigrain waffles (which I'm looking forward to trying) and chocolate chips (these are mainly for baking and yogurt parfaits, because Lord knows I got enough chocolate pictured above! lol).

And now on to today's daily eats...

Breakfast:

I decided to try Energy Kitchen, because I've heard good things about it. I went to the one in the West Village (on Christopher St.). My friend Missy recommended the wraps there and she was right, they are good. I got a veggie egg wrap with egg whites, mushrooms, broccoli, and american cheese on a whole wheat wrap (once again stealing Missy's idea! lol). It was good, however, the service was not.

For starters, I was basically the only person there. Yet the service was really, really slow. Which begs the question, how bad does this place get during busy times?! And because I was at Trader Joe's earlier this morning, I didn't get over to Energy Kitchen until a little after 11, having a late breakfast. While the veggie wrap and my choice of toppings was supposed to only come to $3.98, I was informed that since it was after 11 (by 5 minutes or so!) I now had to pay $6.51!! My life will go on, and in the grand scheme of things it's not THAT much money, but that still sucks. And the worst part is, that after taking forever and overcharging me, they forgot to add the cheese (which they had no problem charging me extra for!). Then when they added it back in, it wasn't melted properly...

So, the upshot is, I wasn't too thrilled with my experience there, but I may go back again or try another location one of these days. Anyways, here's the wrap that I went to so much trouble for! lol

Lunch:

I had one of the Trader Joe's meatless corn dogs with a Mott's peach medley apple sauce. I really thought this tasted like the corn dogs I used to eat as a kid! So I give them two thumbs up!

Snack(s):

I had a few of Trader Joe's macaroons... they are vanilla and chocolate, and very tasty might I add!

I also had one of my beloved Whole Foods 365 brand strawberry fruit bars! These are essential on days like today (WAY too hot in my opinion!).

Dinner:

I had Trader Joe's eggplant parmesan with some mini penne pasta along side (I cooked my own pasta and sauce separately). I thought their eggplant parmesan was very good! Usually nothing compares to my Mom's version, but these were pretty close. And so easy to make too (just 2-3 minutes in the microwave!). (Oh and I couldn't finish all this food, I'm guilty of rarely finishing what I'm eating!)

Dessert:

I had one of Trader Joe's ice cream sandwiches... this was DELICIOUS! Enough said!

Peanut and I had fun playing today... he was really wild (maybe because of the weather change?). He did slow down for me to get a few pics of him by the sink for his drinks (and in this hot weather, there are many of them!).

P.S. Someone made a nasty comment to me about my photography on my last post (and I removed it). The only reason I brought this up is because I can't believe that a person has nothing better to do than to insult my photography! Do you not realize I'm taking these pictures off of a freaking CELL PHONE?! What kind of pictures do you expect to see?! I don't even have a separate digital camera for God sakes! I never claimed to be a professional photographer! It's simply amazing the crap that people will come up with.

Anyways, I just wanted to vent about that, because 99.9% of people I've met in the blogging world have been GREAT. However, there are a few trouble makers out there (so I've heard from other bloggers) that have nothing better to do than to post nasty comments out of jealousy, to try to bring people down. These people are very sad and insecure. They are the same people who like to call girls "fat" or "ugly" to make themselves feel better, no doubt. Oh well, sticks and stones!

Here's a picture that I took on my Macbook instead! See, I'm still smiling! :)

Catching Up! January 30th

I'm still here... I'm sure some of you have been wondering where I've been! Well, I haven't been feeling good lately... I started having a bad reaction to the birth control pills I was on. I was only on them for 2 months, but I was getting tons of migraines, and in general, feeling tired and horrible. It's not like I really "need" them, as the guy I was seeing is still having MAJOR problems, so I haven't the slightest idea when I'll be seeing him again. And if I can go on a birth control pill rant for a moment... I swear, they seem to be getting more and more dangerous! There are more warnings, side effects, and lawsuits than EVER before. I was on them for around 6 months to a year a few years ago to regulate my period and didn't have nearly the same problems I had before (and I went on the EXACT same brand... not the generic version)! Does anyone else have experiences to share about this topic? Just curious to know... Because this time around, I found "the pill" intolerable. I'm doing a little better since going off them over a week ago, but it may take a month or more to fully leave my system. :/

Back to what my blog is about... food! So there has been a lot of catching up to do there... Here are just some of my eats over the past week or two.

My usual eats from Wild Ginger... God I LOVE that place.

Pizza from Famous Ben's Pizza of Soho.

My usual favorites from Qi Asian Eatery...

A Trader Joe's grocery haul...

And I want to do a quick product review for a brand new Wallaby "Down Under" yogurt! (Plus you get a view of my bedroom, since I forgot to take the pic in the kitchen!)

Now I LOVE all of the Wallaby "Down Under" yogurts, with the fruit on the bottom, and have tried them all, but I found this new caramel apple one at the Whole Foods in Chelsea the other day. I love fruit-on-the-bottom yogurts as a rule, but I love the fact that Wallaby's are organic too. This particular flavor tasted like it sounds... basically like an apple pie! I can't wait to buy more of these! (And for reference, my favorites are the caramel apple, peach, berries & cream, and strawberries & cream ones. Although I also like the mango tangerine, pink grapefruit, and chocolate ones as well. So basically, they're ALL good, although the caramel apple one is a real winner! :)

And here's a little of Peanut...

It is SO unbelievably cold here in NYC today, so this afternoon I decided to do some baking! I made some Ghirardelli brownies... I love the ultimate fudge ones.

Ok, that's all for now! I may be updating more tomorrow, but if not, then probably by the 1st!

Daily Eats Downtown ~ October 26th

It was a beautiful fall day here in NYC, and I decided to go downtown to my favorite part of Manhattan, Soho! This time last year I was in Soho nearly every day when I was going to school at the Make Up Designory (which is in the heart of Soho on West Broadway). I can't believe that a year has gone by so quickly! I know Soho like the back of my hand from all the time that I spent down there last year, and would like to share with you some of my favorite spots... Here are my daily eats so far...

Breakfast:

I had a few bites of a Rudi's organic cinnamon raisin bagel spread with peanut butter. I had some of my usual apple juice with it.

Lunch:

By the time I got into Soho I was starving... that's mainly because I only took the subway one stop down from me, and walked the rest of the way! I went to one of the city's best pizza places that I've featured on this blog once before, and that's Famous Ben's Pizza (on Thompson St. at Spring). They have the most fabulous pizza!

Snack:

I went to one of, if not my favorite little hideaway in all of Soho, and that is City Girl Cafe (on Thompson St.). For those of you who are a fan of Rachel Zoe, I know she goes there whenever she's in town. They make the most delicious goodies there and everything is quite inexpensive by NYC's standards.

I got one of my old favorites, their hand made granola bars. I used to get these all the time since my school was basically around the corner from this place! I also got one of their amazing blondies! I decided to have a bit of the blondie this afternoon, and save my granola bar for later or tomorrow.

Dinner:

Okay folks, this is about as good as I get when it comes to cooking, so please bare with me! lol I made my own egg "mcmuffin" for dinner, using a sandwich size english muffin, egg whites, and american cheese. I made some organic french fries to go with it (with some ketchup for dipping, of course!).

And earlier Peanut and I were having some playtime... (in my PJ's in the first pic... lol)

And in case you're wondering what's on my bedroom walls, YES, they are pictures of baby Peanut! :)

Be sure to check back tomorrow, because I'm going to another blog lunch!