Deirdre: It Snows in the Winter?

Okay, so my title is in reference to the fact that people in NYC are FREAKING out about all the snow we are supposed to get tomorrow. Supposedly, we could get anywhere between 6 and 17 inches. I say supposedly because we were suppose to get like 12 inches this past weekend and in most parts of the city there was barely a dusting. I guess since I was born and raised in a city that was recently ranked as America’s Worst Winter City that the prospect of some snow doesn’t freak me out. That being said I don’t really like snow. I am selfish because I just want it to snow on my birthday and on Christmas Day and then stop for the rest of winter. Winter isn’t my favorite season either because its cold and it snows. But I’m used to it so I try to trudge on.

HOWEVER

If people are going to freak out about the snow, I want to benefit from it i.e. a SNOW DAY.  NYC public schools are already closed and there are offices in NYC that have decided to be closed tomorrow as well. My office has decided that we are going to be open, but we are allowed to dress more casually. This basically means I will be able to wear jeans for the first time ever. I am trying desperately to be psyched for this. My sister lives and works in D.C. so she has had off for the last two days and will probably be off tomorrow.

If some adults get snow days, then ALL adults should get snow days. I’m just saying.

Okay, snow rant over. Let’s look at some food!

First up is the Mexican pizza I made last week.

Ingredients

I only used half the can of refried beans and I put it in the oven at 400 degrees until the cheese was properly melted. If you can’t tell already, I like to make very simple meals after a long day at work.

Next, there is the teriyaki tofu I made this past weekend.

Key ingredient

I marinated the tofu in the key ingredient for 24 hours.

On the bottle, it says you only have to marinate for 30 minutes and only more if you desire. This was a case that proves that more isn’t always better. The marinade is delicious but after 24 hours it was simply too overpowering for the tofu. I always forget that tofu is less dense than meat so what you would do with meat won’t ALWAYS work with tofu.

I put the tofu in a pan on the stove and flipped until it was rather firm. Then I removed the tofu and used the excess marinade left in the pan to wilt some spinach.

The spinach helped to downplay the strength of the tofu. I would definitely make this meal again, but I would marinate for only 1 hour max.

So did you get a lot of snow days growing up?

Since bad winters are common in my hometown and the fact that my principal in grade school was born in Canada I didn’t have that many snow days. But when I was in 3rd grade (1994) we had three days off in a row because the temperature was consistently in negative digits.

Deirdre: Blogs Tell Me About The Best Things

Sure, this sounds like a DUH title, but in the last few weeks two of my favorite blogs have totally helped me discover a great restaurant and a helpful drink.

After reading on Katie’s blog about Dos Toros, I was intrigued because the food looked amazing AND the place looked so familiar. Then I realized I had walked past this place tons of times because it is right near my gym! So a past weekend I decided to try it. I ordered the basic plato which is basically a burrito without a bowl. The basic is just black beans and rice and of course I tried the guacamole. I always judge Mexican food on its black beans and guacamole and both were fabulous at Dos Toros. The simplicity of the food totally reminded me of the Mexican food I’ve had when I visited my aunt in California.

So I am just getting off antibiotics that I had to take after getting a root canal (not the most fun thing, but not as scary as tv and movies would want you to believe) so I knew I should probably get on the probiotic train. My only real problem: I can get really sick of yogurt. I don’t even know if I’m allowed to say that as a blogger, but its true. Then I remembered how I saw on Allison’s blog about a product called GoodBelly. It is a probiotic fruit drink that is dairy-free. I bought mango and strawberry.

I thought these were delicious.

Thanks ladies for these two great recommendations!

On the goals front, I’ve gone to the gym at least twice a week for the last two weeks. I’ve brought my lunch at least 3 times a week AND I went on a date.

I leave you with a good quote that was on the back of my January MetroCard.

Deirdre: The Wonderful World of Disney

First, thanks so much for all your encouraging words regarding my weight loss and goals! You guys totally rock. I felt like a got a big bloggers hug and I LOVE HUGS.

Next, we are gonna go back almost 2 weeks now to when I went to DISNEY WORLD. Yes, it has to be in all CAPS because I had NEVER been there. I had visited Disneyland a couple of times when I used to visit my aunt in Cali but never Disney World. So when Amelia said she wanted to run the Disney Marathon I was like I totally want to go to support and of course visit the parks.

In regards to the marathon, Amelia rocked it as I knew she would. I’m gonna focus on some of my favorite pictures from the trip and some of the food I ate. I’ll let Amelia talk about the race.

It is important to remember it NEVER got warmer than 35 degrees the whole time we were there. Sure, that’s warm compared to New York  and especially warm compared to Cleveland winters, but it is definitely cold for Florida. And Amelia ran a marathon in that weather!

Warning: This is going to be a picture heavy post.

On Saturday morning, we made our way to the Expo so that Amelia could pick up her race packet, and I could pick up my Cheer Squad packet. This is the lame sign I made there. Its lame because I’m not artsy, but I tried!

After the Expo, Amelia dropped me off at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Oh did I mention that it rained Saturday morning. It was fortunately just a light rain.

Because of the rain and how cold it was the parks were VERY EMPTY. So empty that I rode the Rock and Roll Roller Coaster  AND The Tower of Terror  in 20 minutes! It was awesome.

I really enjoyed both rides. I didn’t find them scary. They were more fun than anything. But I’m such a sucker for the story, costumes, and themes that go with the rides. Those extras make the rides for me.

After riding some smaller rides, I took the boat over to Epcot.

After exploring a few of the countries, I looked for a quick lunch that was inside. The sit down restaurants were all pretty crowded because of the temperature and would have been too much of a time waster. I ended up eating my lunch standing up at a pub in the United Kingdom.

That is just the best corned beef sandwich I’ve ever EATEN and I’m IRISH. It had swiss cheese and sauerkraut on it along with some sauce. It was amazing. The ‘crisps’ were good too, but I was full so I took them with me.

I also had my first Strongbow. It was very good. I am a fan of Magner’s Cider and this might tie with it.

After my lunch, I felt replenished enough to tackle some more adventures.

I also went on this really cool boat tour called The Land. I really got to see how much Disney uses green farming technology called hydroponics.

Finally, I went on a ride that was my favorite of the trip: Test Track!

I loved it so much I rode it twice. This picture was taken the second time.

That’s me in the back row with my hands up. Can you tell I was having fun?

It was a great day!

Sunday was Marathon day!

That was at 4am and I was very excited to wear my Cheer Squad shirt which was sadly covered up all day under many layers of clothing.

Amelia, right before she ran the marathon.

After hanging out in the warm rental car for a bit, I was ready to get my cheer on.

Fortunately, I saw Amelia at Mile 10 in the Magic Kingdom. Sorry, no picture. I’m never fast enough with my camera. After seeing Amelia, I got some fuel.

Chocolate croissant with a hot chocolate. I had another hot chocolate about an hour later because I was cold.

Then I headed back to the Epcot parking lots to the finish line area.

This picture does not do the size of the crowd justice. Think these bleachers times 3. There were so many people cheering on their loved ones. I’ve said this before, but if you ever feel down about life go to the finish line at a race. You get to see all these amazing people achieving their goals and all their loved ones beaming with pride as they cheer them on.

It was a great trip and I was so proud of Amelia.

Deirdre: So This is the New Year…

“And I don’t feel any different.”

Anyone know what song that’s from? Okay, not the most uplifting song but it is still a favorite of mine.

First, I know I owe you a Disney World recap, and don’t you worry you’ll get one. BUT I am even later in doing a New Year’s Goals post so I decided to write this post first. Oh and I am calling them goals and not resolutions because I feel like there is less pressure evoked with the word goal than there is with the word resolution. Yes, I am weird.

We can’t talk about my goals for 2010 without looking back on 2009.

So my biggest fitness achievement of 2009 was:

Losing 25 pounds!

So I didn’t go down two whole sizes like I wanted, but I was able to buy a size smaller in many clothes and fit into a pair of pants I wore in high school.  I hope to continue this success  in 2010.

Here are my goals for 2010:

1) Go to the gym 2-3 times a week

-Truth session time (what my friend Meghan from college calls confessions) I have not been to the gym since early December. This is bad on a two levels. One, I am losing money. Two, I am obviously not as in shape as I was. Fortunately, I haven’t gained more weight, but I know I will if I continue not to excercise. Going to the gym in the winter is really hard for me, but I need to suck it up and go. I might come up with some kind of reward system like you can buy a song on iTunes if you go to the gym a certain amount of times. We’ll see.

2) Eat my breakfast at home & pack my lunch

-I get bagels or fruit for breakfast and go out to get lunch way too frequently. I know that means I am losing money and gaining calories. I packed my lunch every day this week except Friday so I feel like I am slowly moving in the right direction.

3) Run a 5K race

-While I would never call myself a runner, after going to so many of Amelia’s races I feel like I’ve caught the racing bug. Also, I love how you have to work to your goal and then you get to see the results. Plus, I want to get the racer’s high I see so frequently on blogs AND a free t-shirt. I’ve always been a sucker for a free t-shirt.

4) Save more money/pay off my debts

-Actually using my gym membership and bringing my lunch from home can only help this!

5) Go on more dates

-Despite the fact I am very outgoing, I can be a very lazy single person. I know I need to put myself out there more, but I find dating in NYC to be exhausting/infuriating so I often use that as an excuse. I will try harder this year to seek out dates and to be open when asked on dates. My parents were set up by a friend and they’ve been married 30+ years so I obviously need to keep an open mind.

So there you have it. My 5 major goals for 2010. I will try hard to achieve them. I am completely open to any advice you guys can give me!

Amelia: “Ideal Conditions”

Before any race a runner can list what her “ideal conditions” would be.  These are the things that should happen so that she can compete at her best.

Ideal conditions…

DO NOT EXIST.

No matter how much you plan, something (big or small) will go awry.

It was not ideal that a little over a month before my first marathon my boss told me he was resigning.  And leaving Jan. 8th – the day I was leaving for Disney World.  It was not ideal that for the past month he wavered back and forth about if he was actually going.  (Stress City!)  I actually considered dropping out of the marathon because of the madness.

It was not ideal that my longest run was so cold my Gu packs and Shot Blocks were almost frozen when I tried to consume them.  Granted, I did beat the blizzard that came later that day, so…

It was not ideal that my flight into Orlando landed at 12:30 am.  And then I sorta screwed something up with the car rental (not what you want to deal with at 1:15 am)

It is not ideal that it is 30 and rainy here in the Sunshine State.

HOWEVER…

DESPITE THE LACK OF “IDEAL CONDITIONS”…

I’M HERE!!!  DISNEY MARATHON ‘10!

I can’t believe I’m just a day away from shooting for one of my dreams.  Ever since I started running seriously last year I have had my sights set on this marathon.  I really think Disney is one of the all-time coolest places.  I have so many happy memories with my family here and I can’t wait to experience the Disney parks in such a unique way.

And of course…

I can’t do Disney without my partner in crime:

I am SO happy Deirdre was able to come with me.  She has put up with a lot of my stressing lately and yet still wanted to travel with me.  That’s just one way she’s incredible.

Despite the late flight, we were up and ready to go this morning.  After the hotel breakfast (where I snagged food for tomorrow am. sweeet!), we headed to the Race Expo.

(Palm trees and wintry skies just do NOT match!)

The Expo was fun.  A lot of the vendors (Clif, Larabar, etc.) I have seen many times before, but it was fun to get samples and surround myself with other people who are obsessed with running.

I also decided I might need a little help in carrying stuff during the race, so I purchased a SPIbelt, like this one:

After the Expo I dropped Deirdre at the MGM Studios park so she could enjoy some Disney fun!  I headed over to Peach Valley Cafe for a pre-marathon blogger meetup!

There were a ton of bloggers/readers there and the cafe did a nice job of accommodating all of us.  I sat at a table with three other bloggers and a reader.  Disney will be the first marathon for all of us, so we had tons to talk about.  I think this meetup was a wonderful way to calm some nerves.  Even though we didn’t have any marathon experience, everyone had little tips and stories that will be great for tomorrow.

Me and Sara, a reader:

Bloggers Rachel from Shedding It & Getting It and Jenn & Tish from Fit Bottomed Girls:

Table picture, plus Caitlin:

Everyone I met and talked with was great.  If I haven’t mentioned it before, healthy living bloggers are AMAZING.  Just sweet, genuine, and inspiring people all around.

Thanks so much to Ashley from Healthy Ashley for organizing the get-together!

I’m off to rest a little more, then pick up Deirdre from Epcot.  (I’m so playing car pool mom today! )  Then a little carb-loading and early bedtime!

See you after 26.2!!!

“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.” – Walt Disney

Deirdre: X-mas Re-mix

Hey guys! Happy 2010!

I know it’s the New Year, but since I’m a week behind let’s go back to Christmas, shall we?!

First, I feel very lucky that I was able to see some of my best friends from high school because we were all home this break.

Meet Sara and Anne. The three of us along with Sara’s bf Paul, had a great time eating and drinking at The Winking Lizard. They are all over the Cleveland area, but this was actually my first time going to one of these fun establishments. The food is decent bar/Americana food and there is an extensive beer menu. We went to The Winking Lizard in Lakewood and I just wish there had been a good game on because holy moley were there tvs EVERYWHERE!

The next day was Christmas Eve and so begun the preparations for Christmas Eve dinner. The last few years it has just been my immediate family for Christmas Eve dinner and I really enjoy it. It is nice to have the balance of a small Christmas Eve dinner with just the five of us versus the craziness that is Christmas afternoon dinner with my extended family (I think I’ve mentioned before that my dad is one of seven!) I love the fact that I am from a huge extended family, but a smaller immediate family. Best of both worlds!

My brother (who is only 18!) has chosen to be in charge of Christmas Eve dinner the last few years because he’s ballar like that!

Here is during the day baking his Italian Christmas Sugar cookies:

Trying to look tough while baking!

Sarah watching the master at work.

Marty being annoyed because: a) we are interrupting his morning nap and b) he doesn’t really like getting his picture taken

The finished product! Thomas even made his own frosting. I can say without a doubt these are the BEST sugar cookies I have ever had. These were so moist and tasty. Thomas thinks it is the ricotta cheese that makes the cookies so soft. Needless to say, I had around a dozen of these cookies while I was home.

Thomas was gracious enough to let me make a few appetizers. Since we always go to church around 4:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve I knew I wanted to make it easy for myself.

My first appetizer was not homemade at all but still delicious:

Twenty minutes or so in the oven and they were done!

My second appetizer was homemade. I made the tofu I made here. My mom isn’t a huge tofu fan and I was determined to make her love it. I served the tofu with some marinara sauce so it was like a healthier form of mozzarella sticks.

They gobbled it up! There wasn’t one piece left and my mom loved it. Success!

My family (minus Thomas) chowing down on the appetizers. Blurry picture but I love the way the fire looks!

Finally, we were able to able to enjoy the fruits of Thomas’s labor:

A fabulous antipasto salad (without the pickled onions which were on the side and really MADE the dish)

A truly delicious clam linguine with white wine sauce

I loved how light the sauce was. I hate when you are eating seafood in pasta and you can’t taste the seafood because the sauce is too creamy or overpowering.

Thomas, you did an amazing job!

Christmas Day

One of the best gifts I gave was the calendar of pictures of all of us that I gave to my parents. I made it on my MacBook. You just pick the pictures, put in personal dates if you want and they ship you this amazing calendar in about a week. It was sooo easy!

We also gave my mom Tiffany earrings which she loved and we gave my dad a Nook which he was so excited about he almost teared up!

I got some fabulous gifts too! The best one was a plane ticket to Orlando to see Amelia run the Disney Marathon. I am so excited to go and support her and to visit Disney World for the first time. I’ve only been to Disneyland.

I also got some amazing gift cards, a cool shower curtain from my brother, clothes and these fabulous books:

A book about New York City called Only in New York, a book about American women from 1960 till now called When Everything Changed,  and Kathy Griffin’s memoir.

I’ve already finished reading the Kathy Griffin book and I found it funny, insightful, and heartening. If you like Kathy Griffin’s comedy, you should definitely read this book. You get to learn about her growing up, her family, her struggles getting into the entertainment world and how all of these things have influenced her comedy routine and who she is today.

Okay so sorry for the mondo post. Cheers to you for reading it! I’ll be back soon for my reflections on 2009 and my goals/resolutions for 2010.

What parks should I go in Disney World? I only have about a day and a half so I was thinking Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. Thoughts?

Deirdre: Tis the Season!

Greetings from Cleveland!

I flew home yesterday and I am so excited to be in Cleveland with my family and friends. (And NOT to be at work!)

So I feel like I should have coal in my stocking for lack of posting but c’est la vie!

First, thanks for the birthday wishes for both me and Amelia. Yes, it is crazy that we have birthdays so close to each other. We were obviously meant to be friends and it means party party every year. Our 21st bdays were quite interesting because they were so close.

Second, I WON THE BET! My favorite Michael Voltaggio won!

(photo courtesy of bravotv.com)

I was so excited because I truly because he was the most inventive chef even if he did have an attitude every now and then. And now Amelia has to cook two full meals for me. Don’t worry we’ll post the pics!

Finally, I leave you with some pictures from Christmas time in the Big Apple.

The Cartier store on Fifth Avenue. Those are all red lights that twinkle!

The most famous Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center

Snowflake lights on Saks Fifth Avenue

I hope everyone has a great holiday season and I’ll try to keep posting while I’m home in Cleveland. I’m off to brunch at Lucky’s Cafe with my aunt and uncle. My uncle is a huge Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives fan and this place was featured on the show, but I guess my brother goes there all the time.

What person’s gift are you most excited to give to him/her this year?

I am most excited for the gift my siblings and I are giving to my mom. We all chipped in and she’s gonna be shocked!

Amelia: Happy Birthday Deirdre!

I want to send a (belated) birthday shout out to my bestie Deirdre!  Her big day was this weekend.  Yes, we celebrate our birthdays just DAYS apart!  We were totally meant to be friends.

Deirdre is one of the most genuine, caring, and generous people I know.  She has a tremendous bubbly outgoing personality, which I strive to emulate.  And she laughs at all my moronic jokes…so I keep her around.

Happy 25th bud!  Keep up the awesomeness!

Deirdre: Happy Birthday Amelia!

Yes, today is Amelia’s bday!

Amelia and I met our freshmen year of college when we lived on the same floor. We’ve been friends ever since.

She is my partner in crime, sister from another mister, and one of my best friends. Heck, she’s lived with me for two years and hasn’t stopped being my friend so clearly she has saintlike qualities.

Here’s to you, friend! I hope you have a great year!

Deirdre: Terrific Turkey Weekend

Yes, that was my lame attempt at alliteration.

Point being I had the best Thanksgiving vacation at home in Cleveland. It is always good to see my family and friends, but this year was particularly awesome. I feel like the longer I am a ‘real’ grown up the more I appreciate family traditions and down time.

Thanksgiving Eve

It is a tradition in my family to make pies on Thanksgiving Eve. We always make one apple pie and two pumpkin pies. My brother and I always make the apple pie  and my sister makes the pumpkin pies. When we were younger, my mom did a lot of the work but now she supervises.

We use ‘My Perfect Apple Pie’ recipe every year. The book always falls open to the page and notice the cinnamon stained pages!

My brother, Thomas stirring the seasoned apples.

While Thomas stirred, I enjoyed a Christmas Ale. Clevelanders wait all year to enjoy this amazing brew as it is only available in November and December.

Even Marty wanted to help!

Finished product! It was so good I ate my piece before I could take a picture!

Thanksgiving Day

I woke up at 7:30 so that I could workout on my mom’s treadmill. Since I don’t really like treadmills I switched between power walking and jogging. I ‘burnt’ 382 calories.

Then I joined my family to watch the Macy’s Day Parade. It was great as it is every year but gosh did I feel old when I didn’t know half of the teeny boppers singing on the floats!

Afterwards, we all got ready to go to my aunt’s house. My dad is one of seven children and five of the children live in Cleveland. My aunt Clare usually has everyone over for Thanksgiving and my aunt Kate has everyone over for Christmas.

My brother Thomas and my sister Sarah getting excited to eat.

I only had one drink before dinner: a fabulously strong Cosmo made by my aunt Clare. She uses orange liquor and it makes all the difference.

My plate: roll, mashed turnips, mushroom stuffing, turkey, and green beans.

My uncle makes one of the turkeys in a fryer and it is AMAZING. I can never go back to eating regular turkey. It is just so moist and flavorful when it is fried.  I had seconds of turkey and mashed potatoes.

I also had two rounds of salad. My dad made it! For the holidays, each family brings something. My dad is usually in charge of the salad or the vegetables. This year he out did himself. This was a spinach salad with tomatoes, hard boiled egg, crispy pancetta bits, goat cheese, and a balsamic dressing. SO GOOD.

Since I was at the kids table (I <3 the kids table) sitting next to some of my favorite girl cousins there was no wine bottle on the table. It was truly a healthy blessing in disguise.

This was the only glass of wine I had along with lots of ice water.

Afterwards, I had an unpictured piece of apple pie. I never felt too full. It was great!

Overall, it was a fabulous vacation. I got to spend time with my family. We went out to some great restaurants and even saw The Blind Side which I really enjoyed. I even went to a family birthday party where I got to spend time with my second cousin Sarah who I had gotten to know better at my cousin’s wedding in Denver this past summer. I was sad to go back to New York on Sunday and even sadder to go to work on Monday, but I am excited because this is a special celebration week and my sister is coming to New York on Friday. Christmas is just around the corner and then I will back in Cleveland.

Marty says see you soon!