Starting off on the wrong foot

The weekend didn’t start off on the right foot.

Let’s start with my experience at Gizzi’s Coffee Shop  during my lunch break on Friday.

I passed by this place a few times while working the past week and decided to stop in for a mid day pick me up.  They have a varied selection of coffees and teas and when I saw Vanilla Soy Latte-I knew that’s what I wanted. I ordered it and on the menu it said $3.24. The barista/cashier  continued to charge me $.50 extra for the soy although the price was listed on the menu for a vanilla soy latte.

Me: Why is it $4 even when it says $3.24 on the menu?
Barista: Because of the tax
Me: So you’re trying to tell me that it is $.76 tax on a $3.24 drink? That seems a little ridiculous
Barista: That’s what it’s telling me—– I guess “it” was the cash register and not the creepy clown.

Hmmmmm….something about that seems fishy.
Yeah it may be only $.50 but it’s the principle of it. You all have to understand I am part Polish, I am all about pinching my pennies. I finally got my latte and hunkered down by the fireplace where they have books and magazines to read. I am down for any place in South FL that has a fireplace! They have the most comfy leather chairs I have sat my tush in in a while and after sitting in a hard, cold chair at work, it was most welcomed.

The latte was good-not horrible, not orgasmic, just good. I am still a little annoyed about the $.50 but what can you do? Hopefully this wasn’t a prelude to what my weekend was going to be like.

When I got home from work, I was beat. Beat from sitting at a desk all day and scouring the Internet. Even when I was working full time, I never liked Friday nights. I was always so tired by the end of the week all I wanted to do was cook a nice meal and hang out for the night at home and maybe sneak a gym session in. So I decided that was exactly what I would do on my last day of work.

I bought this Gardein Beefless Tips a couple of weeks ago and have been curious about them but also, a little scared to try them. Beefless tips just sounds dirty and as much as I like a meat-free alternative every now and then, something about fake beef skeeves me out.

I chopped up some red onions, mushrooms and let cook along with some of the beefless tips (I really can’t help saying the phrase beefless tips over and over again) along with some red pepper flakes and minced garlic.

I added in some frozen edamame and soy sauce to the mix and let all cook together so I guess I was going the stir fry route?

I despise cooking rice because I always mess it somehow-under cooked or overcooked and sticking to the pan. I would buy a rice cooker but I’m doing the whole saving money thing and don’t eat enough rice to justify buying it. Steamfresh has been my favorite, lazy way to go with “making” rice as of late, just pop it in the microwave for five minutes and done!

Notice that the beefless tips aren’t in the finished product? Yeah, I took one taste of them and spit it out after a few seconds. I can’t put into words how nasty the beefless tips tasted. I imagine a homeless persons shoe that has been soaked for a few days tasted the same as it. It was spongy and tasted like something that could kill me. When it was done cooked, I picked all of them out of the pan and threw them away along with the package. I’ll be sticking with Morningstar from now on.

Ient to the gym shortly after than made my way to Winn Dixie to stock up on some snacks for the weekend

Chobani was sale for $1 but looks like other people were as excited as I was about it being so cheap. Another sign that the weekend wasn’t going to turn out well.

I managed to get a few in my basket and finally tried the Mango flavor. Which is? Awesomness is in a cup. I think it is my new favorite flavor from Chobani! n another note, look at how gross and dingy Winn Dixie’s dairy shelves are. NASTY.

Saturday things finally started to look up. It started with eggs and Al Fresco chicken sausage

The plan was to make an egg scramble of sorts but while cooking, I saw that it has more potential than that. What once was scramble, soon turned omelet!

I am way too excited and proud about this but omelets aren’t my specialty. So when it happens, I want to tell the world.

Yes sir.

My mom declared it a morning of cleaning and once she started Gettysburg the movie blaring on her mini tv in the kitchen, I knew I had to get out. I made my way over to the beach to go do something…..anything. I thought it would be the perfect time to break in my new shoes and get some exercise in early on. I headed over to Deerfield Beach to walk and get some sun. For 9am in the off-season the beach and boardwalk (really a sidewalk but boardwalk sounds more beach-y) was packed. I love how they have a set place to keep track of your mileage when running and walking and it’s always been a preferred spot for me whether it be going to the beach for the day or hanging out on the boardwalk. I put a good two miles in and as soon as I was done, got out of there since the parking prices at the meters are pretty steep.

Scenes like these make me want to never, ever leave Florida.

Elton John was wrong, Saturday night wasn’t meant for fighting, it was meant for Groupon!

Always a sucker for a deal, I bought this Groupon for Lucille’s Bad to the Bone BBQ. But then I second guessed my purchase, you see, Lucille and I have some history.When I was a teen, I had a bit of an attitude problem (that unfortunately still holds true to this day) I went through a slew of jobs such as working at Walgreens, Papa John’s, Supercuts and our girl, Lucille’s I worked there for a very long two months as a hostess but got canned and I *may* be a little bitter about that still. All I remember is them saying something about how I had an attitude and never smiled therefore, they wanted me out. I guess I didn’t fit the ambience of a bbq joint and haven’t stepped foot in since. However, you give me a 50% off deal and you can bet your butt I’ll be there.

The place looked exactly the same as I remembered it and I was still one of the youngest people in there thanks to the early bird, senior citizens crowd. Some things never change I guess.

I ordered the beef brisket  sandwich, which has sweet relish and chopped onions mixed in and a sweet potato on the side.

 

As you can see, the beef brisket was nothing short of amazing—it was succulent and the relish and onion mixed in gave it a little extra something I wasn’t expecting. I love that you can get a side other than fries there and even though the sweet potato was drenched in butter, I was happy with it. The beach and the bbq were signs that maybe the weekend wasn’t going to be so crappy after all.

Add some free $20 play from Calder Casino in and it turned out to be a pretty swell weekend.

Don’t mock the penny slots, I won $3 off this baby! It’s all slots at this place and I really struggled to find a slot that wasn’t a penny one. I would have killed to have found a nickel slot but they were few and far between. But I did notice a Sex and The City slot machine—when did that happen? I didn’t get a good look at it since the voo doo woman playing it was giving me the stink eye and I didn’t want her to turn me into a chicken. I wonder if the symbols on it are flirtini’s and Jimmy Choo’s?

Have you ever been underwhelmed with a product like I was with Gardein?

Beach or mountains?

Bang and roll

Happy almost Friday all! Not a lot going on over here just getting ready to finish up working my temp gig. It will be actually be somewhat bittersweet since I’ve gotten to know the guys there pretty well (well for being there seven days that is) and yes, all guys. There is no other women in the office which is very refreshing. I love my girls but I hate working with women. There tends to be so much drama and backstabbing that comes along with it and guys may bring drama, 95% of the time if they have a problem with you, they will go ahead and tell you and I can respect that.

When I do see the guys in the office, it’s great but that’s usually only for an hour each day since they go out into the field and sales calls. And the rest of the day is lonely. I would like to thank Youtube for helping me kill hours whether it be watching comedy

cute doggie videos

or listening to music

I love the new Trina song but this will always be my favorite

And that’s about it. I went to Bonefish Grill last night and can confidently say it’s my favorite Wednesday night place thanks to their $5 Bang Bang Shrimp special! They call it Bang Wednesday which I think goes along well with the notion of hump day.

I’ve never had the Bang Bang shrimp before but have been told multiple times how wonderful it was. The masses don’t lie, the shrimp was zesty and tasty. I love the bang bang sauce however next time I will get the sauce on the side since it was doused in it. A bonus is that it’s served over a bed of greens so it’s like a little shrimp salad for $5.

$3 glasses of house wine are equally enticing as well

And since sushi one time this week wasn’t enough, I went again for lunch today to Sushi Rock. This place is right near where I’m working for the week. It’s very unassuming in a tiny strip mall but I read online that they have lunch specials with a decent review so why not?

The first thing I noticed was there wasn’t a single soul in the place. Hmmmmm, it was still early so I didn’t want to judge them too early on. The second thing I noticed was their menu

All of their menu covers are record covers which goes with the name Sushi Rock. I absolutely loved that idea and the chance that I got a menu with the album of one of my favorite cd’s of all time made it even better.

Like Bluefin, they had both Japanese and Thai lunch specials that come with either miso soup or ginger dressing

My dad got his food first and I’ll admit it, I was having a case of food envy with his chicken and steak teriyaki. They didn’t do skimp on pieces of meat and it was loaded with tons of veggies!

He doesn’t like broccoli so I stole a few pieces while waiting for my lunch the #4 Special with sushi, sashimi and shrimp tempura

Holy cannoli—so. much. food. And only for $10, the same price for my lunch on Tuesday but with more sushi with substance. Sushi Rock didn’t have the chic, hip atmosphere like Bluefin but more of a quaint, neighborhood feel to it which I actually dig more. I don’t need to feel sexy when I eat sushi, I need to feel like I’m getting a good deal. I definitely got a good deal at Sushi Rock and can’t wait to visit again!

Do you work with more men, women or is it equal? Do you prefer to work with one more than the other?

Anyone else getting their bang on??

Not my native tongue

The boring days at the office continue. I’m trying to use my time wisely, instead of doing my nails, I’ve been focusing on my trip to Italy.

I’m good with the details on where I want to visit but one thing I’ve been slacking about is learning  the language. I know the basics like ciao and  buon giorno….ok and  chianti. Not wanting to spend a days worth of pay on Rosetta Stone, I logged onto my library’s catalog to see if they had anything to help me out I found this Berlitz Italian Guaranteed when I picked it up at the library, I was taken aback. Had I really requested a VHS?

Turns out it wasn’t a VHS like the case appeared to be, it was a Playaway.  It’s a cool contraption. It’s like an ipod but for this segment only and  all you have to do is plug in your earphones and you’re all set! No charger and no bulkiness-score!

I’ve done a few lessons and my main complaint originally was that it’s all over the place but now it’s actually coming together. It starts with greetings, how to say your name, ask others theirs and discuss where you’re from. Then it goes on to discuss what you do for a living, how many children you have and if you’re married. I definitely paid attention to the latter so I can ask men this in Italy what they do work wise and if they are involved. I can now count up to 30 , 20-29 is easy because they all start with venti so I can relate that to Starbucks biggest drink!! I can also spell my name out in Italian and tell you my name and where I’m from. The other problem is that I don’t know how to write anything or know how its spelled. Whenever I write down what I’m listening to (because that’s the main way I learn), I spell it out the way it sounds which I know is wrong but works for now while learning it. I’ve never learned a language from tapes before so the process has been interesting and I intend to keep practicing up until I go.

 
When I was in DC last month, I found this Dorling Kindersley Travel Guide for Italy at a thrift store for $.50.

I love it because I’m a visual person and they are all about the illustrations and pictures. Who needs words when you can look at pictures right? This book has given me great insight on where to go when in Italy but now I fear I have too many places I want to visit, oi vey.

Other that that, I’ve been online reading different blogs about Italy.
Amanda and Andy recently when back to Italy after going for their honeymoon a couple of years ago. I keep going to their blog and not only marveling at the Italian scenery but the food as well. Blueberry ricotta cheesecake, gnocchi, pizza and red wine? Sign me up! Be sure to check out their adventures in Verona and Venice! 

But like college, I had to give myself a break from studying and researching. I met up with Natalie for lunch at Bluefin Sushi 

I am always down for sushi but even more so when there is a lunch special. Plus I’m kind of over either eating lunch in my car just to get away from the desk or driving around for an hour. Natalie has been before and told me this place gets really busy since it’s located right off I95 near a ton of businesses so we went at noon. That was a smart move on our part since there were only a few tables and parking spaces galore. We went in and sat down and our server came right over to us. I can’t stand when servers take their time at lunch when you have to get back to work so that was appreciated. Bluefin has bento box specials for lunch that come with either soup or salad. Since it feels 100+ degrees outside with the humidity, I got the salad with ginger dressing.

Followed by the Hosomaki lunch special. Both food was out soon after we ordered so no lollygagging at Bluefin-quick service is what I’m talking about!

Hello beautiful bento box full of sushi! This was only $10—not a bad deal at all. My only gripe with Bluefin was that our waiter was a little too attentive with filling up my water. I love my H2O but cmon, give me a chance to just down one full glass of water!

And with that, my brain is fried from all the knowledge it’s taking in. I haven’t sat down and done any kind of studying in god knows how long. But I dig it. It’s nice to give my brain a little workout every now and then, something tells me the normal workout I have of reading TMZ isn’t a beneficial workout for my noggin.

What other languages do you speak? 
Have you ever learned a language from a cd or tape?

 

Another day, you know the rest

It was quite lonely today. Really the only people in the office are the owner (who is on vaca) and receptionist who is “training” me and goes on vaca tomorrow. I use the term training very loosely since there isn’t a lot to learn. I answer the phone and take messages. Easy enough right? Not when they stick me in an office with no phone. That’s right no phone computer or even chair, good times. They finally brought me a chair and with that they gave  me some work. I was so excited to use this little brain o’ mine and was ready to give my all to the filing, stamping and places labels on files chores they gave me. Too bad that only took 15 mins to get through. At least I wasn’t alone, I had a rubber duck to keep me company.

Because every office should have a rubber duck yes? Don’t worry I haven’t gone Castaway-mad yet and started talking to him. But there is six more days left on this assignment so let’s not rule it out.

Hmmmm…what could I do next? I needed to me challenged and think a little so I contemplated if my shoes were really black like I thought they were to match my skirt or brown like the sole is.

After much debate (umm with myself) I decided they were black. Hope I’m right because I’ve been rocking them with black capris and skirts! Lunch was another lonely one….in my car. I don’t believe they have a lunch room here (or they haven’t shown me) and I wanted to get out of the office and possibly see the sun but not be in it so it was me and a salad.

Things didn’t get steamy between us however I added grated parmesan to the salad which made a world of difference. Who knew?

When I got back, I read  my latest issue of Ray Ray  in hopes of some inspiration for meals because my cooking been pretty much non existent this week.

It worked however it left me wanting to eat my own hand since I was starving.
And can we just say holy airbrushing skills batman? She is one of those people I can’t watch on tv but I love her recipe books, magazine, etc. Like Giada, she has become too animated and a wee bit obnoxious over the years and as her fame has risen.

(source)

When I got home, I was ready to chow down but remembered the whole lack of cooking thing going on. So with that, I had nothing prepared except chopped veggies and salad mix and today is not a day I wanted to double down on salad. My parents said they would go out for me if I wanted to eat out and I am not one to turn down a free meal so we got in the car and went to Pei Wei. I ordered my standard tofu pad thai and the portion size seemed a lot bigger compared to the one in Charlotte.

But something didn’t taste right. I am all about the peanut sauce but there was too much on this and the environment was throwing me off. This Pei Wei was one of the loudest I’ve ever been to. We were sitting a table in the middle and I couldn’t even hear my parents talking across the table from me. I kept saying “Huh? I can’t hear you” and tried to have a few bites before taking the rest to go. I thought I was going to drop by the time we got home, I was tired, cranky and had a headache but powered through and went for a 5.2mile bike ride.

Who’s your favorite celebrity chef? Rocco DiSpirito all the way!

Anyone have some fun, work appropriate websites I can go to? I finally got a computer but am trying to not overdue it with the websites.

What I’ve realized this week

*I don’t like how the price of Dunkin Donuts coffee is increasing. At first, I thought I was going crazy because the iced coffee seemed to more expensive here than in Charlotte. But then I did a little research and turns out the price of their iced coffee and breakfast sandwiches at certain locations has gone up and may still go up. And of course, I think Dunkin has rockin iced coffee but not really a fan of their hot coffee. And vice versa for Starbucks.

*I have an unusual obsession with Mob Week

Mind you, they play movies that I’ve seen a hundred times. However, something about that it’s on for hours on end really excites me. I didn’t want Mob Week to end but of course, all good things must come to an end. Perhaps they should create a mob station? I would totally subscribe!

*I miss Lost. A lot.

‘Nuff said.

*As much as I complain about how hot is it outside and how I can’t wait for winter to be here, I’m going to miss salads come fall and winter. I’ve been chomping down on them a lot lately and eating a salad in the fall or winter just doesn’t do it for me.

*Bonding with mom isn’t so bad. My mom and I are close but not like Gilmore Girls close. I don’t tell her my secrets, indulge her with information about who I’m dating and admit, I can be pretty secretive with her. She is unemployed at the moment and wanted to go shopping to get out of the house and do something with someone instead of sitting at home alone. We  went shopping, had coffee and it was nice to hang out. I think I can definitely do it in small increments like three or four hours. Otherwise, we will likely kill each other.

*Once again, I need to cut myself off from all things Groupon. South Florida not only has one or two Groupon options, they have three! I get the emails for Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach daily and while that’s nice for saving money and trying out new businesses, I need to stop buying. I bought this Groupon awhile back when I lived in Charlotte for my parents to use and my dad insisted on my mom and I going for lunch the other day.

I don’t know how I have the ability to pick out places that are dead but we were the only table in there

It was a bit creepy but way better than being surrounded by noisy people. Our server told us that it picks up at nighttime and I can see why. Hello drink specials! And I noticed that they are all day drink specials so I guess if I have nothing to do and feel like a good day drinking session is in order, I know where to go.

Not only are the lunch items cheap, you get a salad with any lunch item

I got the chicken franchese and the chicken took up half of the plate

That’s what I’m talking about! More bang for my buck!

To top it off,  you get dessert with any lunch entrée!

It’s been too long since I’ve had a decent cannoli. The ones I had in Charlotte were pretty crappy but this here was the real deal.

*I love to spoil my dog

Lincoln isn’t having a dog party anytime soon since A) that’s ridiculous and B) momma has student loans to pay before throwing her non existent money towards a dog party. But that doesn’t mean he can’t enjoy a fun treat right? I got him a martini doggie treat and he scarfed it down, like momma like dog.

*I love riding my bike again! I usually scoff when I hear people say that once they find something they truly enjoy, it doesn’t feel like exercise anymore but I kind of know what they mean. I love going out there without a plan and seeing where I’m going to end up. I felt ambitious on Sunday and went for a four mile ride in the afternoon. I felt like I could have kept going but I underestimated how much water I would need. I rested for a bit then went out again that night for another four miles.

And that’s it…..for now at least. I’ve realized a whole lot more but I am just about dead to the world with a headache from hell. My sister has been in town so we have been going around non stop. She is getting married in October and lives three hours away so when she comes to town, she wants to get as much done as possible. Plus, on a happier financial note, I am going to work tomorrow! My friend is a recruiter and hooked me up with a week and a half long gig doing reception work. The girl is going on vacation next week and is going to train me the next three days and then I will be on my own next week. Get out of the house and get some extra cash? Sign me up!

What have you realized lately?

Tell me something fun going on with you! I am so behind with reading blogs, checking Facebook, etc.!

Food truck fail

On Wednesday night, I went to a food truck round up at Esplanade Park in Fort Lauderdale. This was the first one of it’s kind since they all seem to gather in parts of Miami so I was super stoked to take part and try some of the food truck cuisine of South Florida.

 Natalie was also game so I had a food truck partner in crime for the evening! When I rolled up I saw hoards of people and the parking situation was absolutely out of control but they have a ton of lots, garages, etc, around. We walked over to the park, this is what we saw:

Absolute madness.

I couldn’t wait to jump in there and get my grub on.

However, first we decided that a cold one was in order so we went over to the ticket booth to get some tickets for beer. The lady told us that they didn’t expect this kind of turn out so they were no longer selling tickets because there wouldn’t be enough beer. Major bummer, especially since hello-it’s July in Florida and cold beverages would be much appreciated. Even more so if they are adult friendly. But then luck be a lady tonight! A man came up to us and told us that we could have his tickets, no string attached.

So we did what any sensible person would do-double downed so we wouldn’t have to wait in line again

Unfortunately when we tried to go back to the line, the booths were already cleaned out so we should have triple downed instead. Oh well, they were still free.

We got in line for Mr. Good Stuff and waited in hopes that we would soon be greeted with some tasty arepas.

Notice how it’s light out in the picture? I hope so. We waited….and waited….and waited. I listened to some obnoxious dude behind us chatting away about mortgages to the girl he is with (I really hope they weren’t on a first date because homeboy slice killed his chances when he started talking short sales) and dealt with people in front of us letting their friends cut in line. Oh yeah. Didn’t mention how they were a kickball team so it just wasn’t one person cutting in line-it was almost an entire team. Ugh.

By time we got close enough to see what items they still had available, we decided to bail and go to another truck. It was nearing 815pm and I haven’t had anything to eat since lunch time so a side item such as fries wasn’t going to cut it. We checked three other food trucks but to our dismay, there was no real food. Each of the trucks were down to one or two items and they all seemed to be in the appetizer family. Can we say food truck fail? Pair that up with hot, humid, beer, empty stomach and we decided to leave and go to an establishment where we would be guaranteed food—Brick House Tavern. The place was hopping for 9pm on a Wednesday night and they definitely go with the notion that bigger is better-from big booths to big beer bongs at tables around us to the waitresses with big bosums that made me feel like I was at a Hooters instead. And hello-check out this big beer menu!

That’s what I’m talking about!

Food wise-everything looked good at the moment. I kinda wanted to get two or three bites of each appetizer since they equally looked amazing. They even had fried stuffed olives-I’ve never heard of such thing! After much deliberation I got the Fondue Mushroom Burger with a side of fries. Gah, this burger was tender, juicy and hit the spot.

I should have went with Natalie’s side item—garlic tater tots, topped with fresh garlic. They were out of this world and I had to stop myself from grabbing one! I loved this place and want to go back again for the chicken and waffle plate they have.

Even though the main goal of the night was to get some food truck food, it was still a fun evening. It was great to see the camaraderie of all the food trucks out there and the different kinds out there such as grilled cheese, sushi, dim sum, tacos and more. However, next time this happens, I will be there beforehand waiting in line anxiously for food.

 
Does your city have a big food truck following?

Have you “dined” at a food truck? If so, what’s your favorite?

 

PS—-Want a chance to win a Weber Grill & Original Brat Hans Products worth $160? Head over to Simply Life!

Frugal Friday: Boston and Beyond

Happy Frugal Friday! Hope everyone is ready for the weekend and that it’s starting to cool down wherever you are. The weatherman said that in South Florida the heat index today will be 110 degrees so this girl is all about staying inside in the A/C. My parents said something about going to see a movie this afternoon at one of the $2 theaters so they are embracing Frugal Friday as well!

When I went to Boston, Stephanie took me to this awesome used bookstore she frequents. I love used bookstores but this one also had cd’s, dvd’s, magazines, records and other goodies. I soon got the lay of the land and found that they had racks in the front featuring best sellers, chick lit, cookbooks, etc. Along with that are rows upon rows of books, all organized  by genre. It was very easy to navigate through with very reasonable prices.

Not only did I get a couple of books (Devil in the Junior League was read on the way back to DC and a fun, quick read), I also snagged some books on cd, which I still call books on tape. I like to think people know what I’m talking about when I saw books on tape so hopefully that’s the case.

I listened to Something Blue on the way down to Florida and it really did help time go by quickly. I read the book years ago and knew the premise of it but forgot certain parts of it. Plus, after seeing Something Borrowed a couple of months ago, it was fun to continue the story from Darcy’s point of view plus now I can totally see Kate Hudson as Darcy. Every though I prefer the books to movies, I am hoping that they come out with Something Blue as a movie. I am waiting to listen to the Lovely Bones on another long trip. I read the book and it was a little too depressing for me but given the way the book reads, I think the book on tape will be really interesting. I got both of these for under $8. If anyone of you book on tape people would like “Something Blue” let me know and I will be happy to pay it forward and send to you!

While at the Lululemon store in Boston, I went up to the cash register to ask how much their red bags are. I’ve never bought anything there before but I see their bags everywhere and dig them because they are a) red, my favorite color b) I love the quotes on them, just looking at them makes me smile. Besides me Coach purses, I don’t think I can say that about any bags I own. The sales associate told me that they don’t sell them, that they are the bags they put purchases in. I must have looked pretty down while saying “Oh” because the sales associate took one then slid me it on the DL and that definitely turned my frown upside down!

I got to the train station a bit early on Monday and was bored after a half hour, the people watching gods were not being good to me. I found out where the closest CVS was and took a walk over there to stock up on snacks, drinks and more. Stephanie gave me this coupon for $3 off HerbaShine hair color and it must have been in the stars for me to buy it because it was on sale for $7 at CVS.

Pair that up with a $.50 extrabucks coupon and I got hair coloring, swedish fish, Gatorade and a sandwich for $11, not too shabby. But then I thought about my purchase and how sketchy I looked buying hair dye when about to get on a train. That’s like straight out of a movie when a chick kills someone then moves somewhere random like South Dakota to start anew. No worries though, Stephanie is still alive and I am too afraid of prison to do that anyways. I’ve never seen a CVS carry sandwiches like that and they had a pretty decent variety like a club, chicken caesar and buffalo chicken, which I got.

 

I later enjoyed on the train along with some pita chips that I bought at Trader Joe’s that weekend. A great, portable meal for about $5.50 as opposed to just a sandwich on the train for $7 or $8. The buffalo chicken was surprisingly tasty, a lot better than I expected from a drug store.

When I stopped in Charlotte for a night, my friend and I went to Target to look for dresses. Naturally, this meant that I would buy a crap ton more than a dress, including three pairs of shoes for under $30 (one of them not pictured because I have too much stuff and can’t find them at the moment)

While making my way down to South Florida, I saw this sign for free coffee if the restroom wasn’t spotless at Dunkin Donuts. I thought I was going to walk away with a free coffee since it was a DD located within a gas station but no dice, the restroom was completely spotless

I stopped at a friends house the first night I was back in FL and she has an avocado tree in her backyard that is growing avocados left and right. But they aren’t the avocados that I’m used to, like the Haas ones from California, they are Florida avocados and I’ve never heard of that even after growing up in Florida.She gave me a bag of them to take home but said I would have to wait awhile for them to be ready to eat.

As you can see, they are much bigger than the Haas ones and the skin is smoother as well. I sliced one open yesterday but it still wasn’t ready-boo.

I have been doing excellent with not eating out that much. I only ate twice this week and one of them was with a Groupon I had for Wings n Ale in Coral Springs

When I bought the Groupon, I thought the name sounded very familiar and when we pulled up, I realized that I had been there before. I was surprised to see it still in business because it’s in a random strip mall in the corner and if you blinked, you would probably miss it. The inside was very small with about eight or nine tables and you seat yourself. They have a small bar area and only two servers working that night. It was packed and our server mentioned that everyone who has been there in there was because of Groupon. One of the many reasons I love Groupon is because it helps support local businesses so I was happy to see that it was hopping!

Since I tried their wings before, I ordered the blackened mahi sandwich and it was superb. The fish was freah and blackened perfectly with a hint of spice. Plus I kinda dig that the mahi filet is square and served on a round bun-just like Wendy’s hamburgers!

 

Do you do a lot of shopping while traveling or try to save your money on other things?

Have you ever had a Florida avocado?

Do you have a good avocado recipe? I’m looking to do something besides guacamole!

 

 

Up to Beantown

Hello all! If you can’t tell from the title, it’s going to a Boston recap kind of post. So if you’re not a fan of Boston or recaps, please feel free to move along.

The plan on Friday was to wake up early which shouldn’t have been a problem since I’ve been working up at 6am with no problem at all. But of course the day I have a train to catch, I decide to start using the snooze button like it’s no ones business. I never hit the snooze button since it’s one of my biggest pet peeves ever. I don’t get the concept of setting an alarm if you’re just going to hit the snooze button over and over again. I would rather wake up, bitch about waking up so early and get on with my days but yeah, the day didn’t start out well. Neyal drove me over to the Metro and gave me specific instructions on what to do. I’m not sure why I was so nervous about riding it alone but she assured me I would be fine since the mentally challenged do it all on their own every day. I’ve been on there before with others but I guess when going at it solo with a time restraint, I wanted to make sure everything would be right. I was surprised at how easy it was. The only issue as always was sketchy people on there which odds are, there will always be a few bad apples. This girl was sitting across from me and just kept staring at me. It was very creepy, when I was look over to the side, so would she. When I would look down, so would she. I wasn’t sure if we were playing the whole don’t bat your eyelashes game but I was relieved when the Union Station stop finally came up.

All I had to do was go up the escalator and I was there. They have a bunch of self serve kiosks just like the airport so it was easy to get my ticket and go.

Leave it to me to sniff the aroma of Starbucks in the air. The line was absolutely out of control as expected however I thought it was pretty efficient of them to have someone going to each person in line, getting their order and then telling the baristas via headset. I thought I would go up to the cashier, grab my coffee and go since there eight or nine people in front of me. But I got up there and my drip coffee wasn’t ready and I got my sandwich and the cheese was melted to the bag, it wasn’t a good way to start the morning. Add that to some creeper hitting on me while charging my phone and I was ready to get on that train.

Well, Matilda was ready as well. She was excited for her first trip to New England.

All aboard!

Matilda was the perfect girl to have with me since we got a seat on the quiet car. I wish planes would adopt this because it was so nice and peaceful. No cellphones, loud music, loud conversation or crying babies What more could you want? When someone’s phone went up, the conductor came right over and told them no phone calls, how it was the quiet cart and all. I just raised my fist in the air a little and mouthed “Word” since silence is golden.  I slept a little and chatted with the lady sitting next to me. She boarded in Philly and was telling me about the u2 concert in Philly the night before. If I can’t get tickets for the u2 concert, I will happily life through someone else who has been. I would have loved to have been at that particular concert because another favorite band of mine, Interpol, opened for them instead of Florence& The Machine, who has been opening for them this tour. I wanted to sleep more but it just wasn’t in the stars, this better not happen when I go to Italy because I will definitely need to rest on that trip.

I even got to see a bit of NYC before we got into Penn Station.

While on a 20 min break, Matilda got her own seat

I should have kept her there because maybe that would have kept the people at bay. Apparently, everyone wanted to sit next to me and the girl who sat next to me at Penn Station broke the cardinal rule of being a girl with big hips : Thou shall not sit next to another girl with big hips. It was uncomfortable all the way to Boston.

The second part of the trip was pretty dead. I broke into my Clif Carrot Cake bar right after we left NYC

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this flavor. I’ve liked just about any CLIF bar flavor I’ve tried in the past but there is always the risk of making a bar out of a popular flavor and it turns out like crap. To say the bar was extremely tasty would be an understatement. It was flavorful, moist for a bar and the only thing that would have made it better was some cream cheese drizzle.

By 5pm I was in Boston, hooray I survived the Amtrak! Stephanie was gracious enough to let me crash at her place and show me her city for the weekend. We took my suitcase over to her car then made our way over to the Seaport District for much needed dinner and drinks (not in that order). The plan was to go to Temazcal, a newer upscale restaurant right on the water but there was already a wait….at 5:15. Um no. We tried to find a spot at the bar but the place was absolutely jam packed, which is definitely a sign it’s doing well. I even got to hear my first Boston accent while waiting in line to speak with the hostess. I heard some guy say “We’re just going to the bah (bar)” and I giggled to myself, I love Boston accents!

We went over to Jerry Remy’s  right next door. There was a little wait and when I say that, I mean 10/15 minutes not this hour long bull crap. We made our way straight to the bar to get some hoppy refreshments in our system and the place was a complete sausage fest-score! Not only did it have nice views of men, it also had nice views of the food. We noticed that pretty much every table had an order of nachos on it and they looked heavenly with cheese, chips, sour cream, meat galore. When we sat, we finally found out why the nacho craze at Jerry Remy’s. On their menu, they guarantee cheese on every. single. chip. I’ve never heard of something so wonderful and now questioning why we didn’t order the nachos?  I ordered the Remy Burger with a side of sweet potato fries because I needed real food stat. I’d been chowing on snacks all day so a big meal was a must plus I needed a little something something to soak up the beer.

Sweet potato fries count as a vegetable serving right? Right. Even though they weren’t orgasmic, they were good enough to down. The burger was magnificent and I ate up every single bite, Jerry Remy’s was a great spot for a low key,  dinner option after a long day of traveling.

I marveled at the skyline, well, a part of the Boston skyline on the way back. Also at the beautiful scenary, people walking around and smell of the water. I feel spoiled when I go to a new city since Charlotte’s skyline is lame and the Uptown area is pretty much a ghost town after 5pm.

And that’s all for now. I am leaving DC tomorrow morning and have way too much to take care of in the next 15 hours. Stay tuned for more Boston fun!

Do you like the process of traveling such as packing, waiting, sitting next to strangers, etc or would you rather just get there without the fuss? Some of my friends hate going to the airport and having to wait with others then sitting next to strangers but I find it oddly exciting!

When you travel, are you chatty with others around you or do you keep to yourself? I’m a chatty Cathy most of the time but occasionally like some quiet, alone time.

In plain view

I started Monday with an early morning workout.

Ok maybe not so much early morning but a 11am workout. What can I say, it takes a few hours for me to mentally wake up.

And can we just say holy workout from hell?

Kettlebell 20 lbs

*Plie Squats (15 reps, 4 sets)

*Tricep extensions (13 reps, 4 sets)

*Lateral Row (13 reps, 3 sets)

*Shrugs (13 reps, 3 sets)

*Halos (13 reps, 2 sets)

*Chest Press  (13 reps, 4 sets)

*Side Bends (25 reps, 2 sets)

Dumbbell 10 lbs

*Deltoid raise (13 reps, 3 sets)

*Tricep kickbacks (13 reps, 2 sets)

*Curls (13 reps, 3 sets)

In between sets, I would do sets of 30 jumping jacks or crunches which made me super sweaty in no time. It may not look like a lot of stuff but this workout had me reaching for my water. Oddly enough, no matter how tired I get when strength training, I can keep going. Not so much with cardio though, I get too bored after awhile and can’t concentrate.

*

Kicked

My

Butt

I don’t even want to talk about how much pain I’m in today but to say I’m hurting a bit is an understatement. I couldn’t cool down after that even after showering and lounging for awhile but I’m I got that out of the way early on so I could go play!

First stop was Wagging Tails Thrift Store, which benefits the Humane Society.

This place didn’t look like much from the outside but once you step inside, it’s like a huge warehouse full of junk! And I’m talking really, really random junk!

I wanted to buy these and some clear pepsi to go along with it

Other random trinkets included:

I have no clue who the Fercos are but I imagine some kind of Siegfried & Roy knockoff? Aha, turns out they are just like Siegfried & Roy and will have their own show on Animal Planet!

All BSB, all the time!

Oddly enough, one of the Twilight movies is playing in the background as I type this. I am definitely not Team Edward, he is too emo and needs a tan. Team Jacob all the what!

Look what I found!

I guess others don’t hold Dawson’s Creek in such high regards as I do?

And this place has Playboy dvd’s right in plain view for all to see. Awkward much? Personally I would never buy nudie dvd’s at a thrift store but to each his own. And if it’s raising money for the pups, that can’t be bad right?

After that and the longest trip to Target ever, we went to lunch at a Panera-esque place, Corner Bakery. I have to say, I really like how pretty much every place I’ve been to in DC has the calorie contents in plain view. A girl could definitely get used to that. A girl being me of course but I guess if other girls need it, it’s ok as well.

I ate a light Asian wonton salad since it was humid and hot out plus I wanted to save room for something sweet….cupcakes! My friend and another friend mentioned Lilly Magilly’s and once they did, I knew we had to stop there for a treat.

I love the pink and black décor of Lilly’s plus the beautiful display of cupcakes. Plus, the aroma of cupcakes just make me happy.

We split two cupcakes to get the true Lilly’s experience. I got the chocolate coconut and Neyal got the red velvet cupcake. She says she always orders red velvet wherever she goes to test the place on how they do. Me, I like to get whatever sings to me that day.

Both cupcakes were fantastic but the coconut was definitely my favorite.

I’m still curious who Lilly Magilly is though.

Matilda was there with us! I’m sad that Matilda scared some people out there—she means no harm!

We stopped by 7-11 on the way home to take partake in free slurpee day! I thought the idea of them giving out 7.11 oz slurpess was creative but cmon, give me a bigger slurpee. I’m not a midget so my slurpee shouldn’t be either.

Later on, the plan was to have shrimp and mango kebabs on the grill with grilled veggies

But then Mother Earth decided to be a bitter beezy and ruin our plans

We brought everything in before the rain hit and put the kebabs in the oven and let the veggies cook over the stovetop. I made cucumber and tomato salad to go with the veggie themed meal and dinner was served!

 

Do restaurants post calorie content for public view where you live?

What’s your favorite thing to make on the grill?

For my kettlebell users-what are some other exercises I can do? I need to mix it up and will occasionally do wind mills and swings with my workout but other than what I normally do, I’m at a loss of what else to do with mine.

I don’t wanna wait

 

I have a confession.

I’m 31 years old and wish Dawson’s Creek was still on.

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Dawson’s Creek came on my earlier years of college but I never watched it. Then my second senior year I had one class left and when I came home each day from that one class, it was on for two hours on TBS. And that’s when I got hooked. At first I would just sit at home, watching it by myself, making fun of it. But then I really started to like it and couldn’t wait to get home from class so I could zone out and see what was going on in the town of Capeside.

So when I found out we would be going to Wilmington, where Dawson’s Creek was filmed, I was super excited.  I started searching for Dawson’s Creek stuff in Wilmington and found this picture of a mural

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But unfortunately couldn’t find it or really any other things when I went to Wilmington the other day. I saw Hell’s Kitchen but that was about it since it was dark outside and I didn’t want to get out of the car and ask strangers about Dawson’s Creek. I was looking forward to seeing the city but I think it would have been better during the day instead of night time. Oh well, perhaps another time.

So instead of searching for Dawson’s Creek memorabilia, we went to Carolina Ale House since it was $2.50 pint night and oh yeah, that little thing called food

This place was total sausage fest…..and men without wedding bands who were over the age of 24 not wearing pastels, it was great! So, $2.50 beers plus nice scenery, definitely a good place to go. I had a Stella and a Carolina Blonde and by the time we got out food, I was a bit full. I got the Greek Pizza topped with pesto alfredo, feta, kalamata olives, spinach and tomatoes.

Party on Creekers

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Did you watch Dawson’s Creek?

Team Dawson or Pacey?

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Team Pacey all the way!