I don’t have a whole lot to report today, but I DO want to sing the praises yet again of Right by Nature. I stopped yesterday before volleyball “scouting” to waste some time and fuel up on a salad. I got the things I was looking for, loaded up my salad (spring mix, sunflower seeds, roasted soynuts, dried cranberries, a feta/asiago mix, bean sprouts, some mixed nuts and some de-lish green goddess dressing!), and headed to the registers… but wait! What’s that sign the bakery lady’s putting up in front of the bakery case? Surely that doesn’t say “Buy one, get two free!” Oh yes, friends, buy 1, get 2 (yep, 2!!) free! So I got 3 bakery bagels for some breakfasts: a blueberry, an everything, and a sunflower honey wheat. 3 breakfasts for only 69 cents total. Rock. Freakin. On. In addition to my salad and breakfast beauties, I snatched up 2 tiny tangerines and some new salad dressing – Drew’s Lemon Tahini Goddess. I’m super excited about the dressing and I think it’ll go swimmingly with my feta. To be on the safe side, though, I think I’m going to ditch the rest of my bagged spinach since I’m pretty sure it’s waging a war on my stomach. Perhaps I’ll stop at TJ’s before going home today to grab some spring mix.
Speaking of heading home, I have to go home early today because a mystery man named George is supposed to meet me there to fix my garage door. The door has been broken since early September and I give myself a hernia every morning when I have to heave it up to get my car out, only to have to prop it up on a ladder to keep it from crushing me and my little Cobalt. Apparently my dad has decided that I’ve suffered long enough and he called George to come fix the cause of my morning frustration. It seemed like he was going to pay for the job, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. The only reason I hadn’t called someone myself is because I don’t have the money to fix the door at the moment… so if George is demanding payment before he leaves, this homeowner may have to be a bit late on the mortgage payment this month…
I have some big plans for the weekend! Ok, they’re not really big plans for normal social-active people, but they’re exciting to a dork like me. First up, and the most exciting, is the Annual South Side Mid-Winter Soup Contest!! $5 and a canned soup donation gets you access to bowls of soup from 23 different vendors. Seriously, how awesome is that?! $5 and a canned soup = 23 bowls of soup? Hot diggity dang, that’s a screamin deal! I’m determined to forego a normal breakfast and potentially even dinner just to sample as many different soups as I can. I love me some soup. In college, my friend Katie and I called each other “soup sisters” because we always headed straight for the soup kettles in the cafeterias and ate soup whenever possible. I may go as far as to say that soup could easily be the perfect meal. I’m probably going to have trouble sleeping tonight just thinking about all that soup! :)
My other plans for the weekend include a super-long-overdue eye doctor’s appointment for new glasses and contacts, returning library books, balancing my checkbook and paying bills (hopefully there’s still money available after George leaves!), maybe baking some bread for next week, and cooking some dinners in advance for the week ahead. I’ve really been slacking on dinner this past week – I’ve made due with salads or soup or even some tortillas with hummus. I just haven’t been up for actually cooking. I’m hoping I’ll be inspired after the soup contest to make some delish creations of my own!
Happy Friday, everyone!
Showing posts with label right by nature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label right by nature. Show all posts
1.30.2009
i'm (not) a barbie girl in a barbie world.
i gots no skillz, that's for sure.
last night after our volleyball game (we won, naturally), i ventured into downtown pittsburgh for salsa night at bossa nova at the invitation of natalie and leandra. while it was good to be sociable for the night instead of just heading home, i will say this: it's terribly difficult to go out when your friends are all zoolanders - ridiculously good-looking. although she doesn't try at all, natalie is easily one of the most gorgeous people i know. and what really sucks is that she's super nice and smart, and not stuck-up in the least, so it's impossible to hate her. leandra is also pretty, and she's colombian, so she has the accent on her side. even though i had just finished my game, i had changed my clothes, i didn't smell, and i didn't think i looked awful... the reason i had decided to go was that natalie told me that guys will come over and ask you to dance all night and that it's not a big deal if you don't know what you're doing - everyone's just there to have a good time. well, sure, that's likely true in natalie's case, but it's certainly not the case for average-looking people such as myself. guys were asking her to dance all night... and when we were hanging out and talking, guys would literally shove past me to ask her to dance. not one guy asked me to dance. i did dance one dance, quite awkwardly i might add, with a guy that natalie asked to dance with me. he was a nice guy and kind of cute, but he was obviously not into dancing with me. i left around midnight and just felt awful until i was asleep. i had expected the night to be fun and a bit of an ego boost... but instead it was depressing and awkward and i ended my night feeling like the ugly, fat, socially retarded girl that no one asked to prom. i mean, i may as well have pooped in the middle of the dance floor the way everyone (except leandra, natalie and a nice guy named brandon) was avoiding me. sigh. i probably won't be going back to salsa night. aside from the obvious reasons, i'm also disappointed because i really WANTED to learn how to dance - it looked like so much fun! blah.
on to better, more cheerful things! yesterday before the game, i went to right by nature for some groceries and dinner. i loaded up on avocados (2 for $1! sushi tonight!!), blackberries, blueberries, sweet potato chips, and a grape kombucha tea. for dinner, i raided their hot and cold bars and ended up with the bargain of the night - flank steak (i was in a rare red-meat mood), rosemary roasted potatoes, garlic noodles, some sort of chinese coleslaw or something, elbow mac with greens, and a lovely spinach salad with asiago, dried cranberries, whole roasted pecans and green goddess dressing for a whopping $3.57!! this is like the best deal ever! i was pleasantly full (though not TOO full) and it only cost $3.57... amazing. i tried the grape kombucha tea with lunch today and i have to say, i'm not really impressed. maybe that's just because lori said it smells like sewer... i dunno. but anyways, about 90 seconds ago i shook it a little and opened up the top because i'm mildly autistic and now there's niagara grape kombucha wonder drink all over my keyboard, desk, blotter, and floor. right where fermented tea belongs. holla!
i'm really not feeling the gym tonight, but i feel like i have to go since i haven't hit it up since monday. i'm really excited about making avocado sushi for dinner, though! tomorrow my mom and i are planning to meet up either at ross park mall or pittsburgh mills to do some pre-cruise shopping. by pre-cruise shopping, i mean that she might buy something, but i most likely will not since i have negative dollars in my bank account even after today's payday. it'll be nice to get out and do something besides go to the gym, though, and i'll likely get at least one meal out of her. :) and sunday...
pittsburgh's goin to the superbowl!
ok, i'll readily admit that i'm not the biggest football fan. but when i DO watch football, the steelers are obviously my team. i just have a hard time sitting still through hours of tv, especially when it gets so tense sometimes! so i usually tune in for the last 5 minutes or so... but i'm going to make an effort to check in periodically during the game to see how dem stillers are doing. :)
happy friday, everyone!
last night after our volleyball game (we won, naturally), i ventured into downtown pittsburgh for salsa night at bossa nova at the invitation of natalie and leandra. while it was good to be sociable for the night instead of just heading home, i will say this: it's terribly difficult to go out when your friends are all zoolanders - ridiculously good-looking. although she doesn't try at all, natalie is easily one of the most gorgeous people i know. and what really sucks is that she's super nice and smart, and not stuck-up in the least, so it's impossible to hate her. leandra is also pretty, and she's colombian, so she has the accent on her side. even though i had just finished my game, i had changed my clothes, i didn't smell, and i didn't think i looked awful... the reason i had decided to go was that natalie told me that guys will come over and ask you to dance all night and that it's not a big deal if you don't know what you're doing - everyone's just there to have a good time. well, sure, that's likely true in natalie's case, but it's certainly not the case for average-looking people such as myself. guys were asking her to dance all night... and when we were hanging out and talking, guys would literally shove past me to ask her to dance. not one guy asked me to dance. i did dance one dance, quite awkwardly i might add, with a guy that natalie asked to dance with me. he was a nice guy and kind of cute, but he was obviously not into dancing with me. i left around midnight and just felt awful until i was asleep. i had expected the night to be fun and a bit of an ego boost... but instead it was depressing and awkward and i ended my night feeling like the ugly, fat, socially retarded girl that no one asked to prom. i mean, i may as well have pooped in the middle of the dance floor the way everyone (except leandra, natalie and a nice guy named brandon) was avoiding me. sigh. i probably won't be going back to salsa night. aside from the obvious reasons, i'm also disappointed because i really WANTED to learn how to dance - it looked like so much fun! blah.
on to better, more cheerful things! yesterday before the game, i went to right by nature for some groceries and dinner. i loaded up on avocados (2 for $1! sushi tonight!!), blackberries, blueberries, sweet potato chips, and a grape kombucha tea. for dinner, i raided their hot and cold bars and ended up with the bargain of the night - flank steak (i was in a rare red-meat mood), rosemary roasted potatoes, garlic noodles, some sort of chinese coleslaw or something, elbow mac with greens, and a lovely spinach salad with asiago, dried cranberries, whole roasted pecans and green goddess dressing for a whopping $3.57!! this is like the best deal ever! i was pleasantly full (though not TOO full) and it only cost $3.57... amazing. i tried the grape kombucha tea with lunch today and i have to say, i'm not really impressed. maybe that's just because lori said it smells like sewer... i dunno. but anyways, about 90 seconds ago i shook it a little and opened up the top because i'm mildly autistic and now there's niagara grape kombucha wonder drink all over my keyboard, desk, blotter, and floor. right where fermented tea belongs. holla!
i'm really not feeling the gym tonight, but i feel like i have to go since i haven't hit it up since monday. i'm really excited about making avocado sushi for dinner, though! tomorrow my mom and i are planning to meet up either at ross park mall or pittsburgh mills to do some pre-cruise shopping. by pre-cruise shopping, i mean that she might buy something, but i most likely will not since i have negative dollars in my bank account even after today's payday. it'll be nice to get out and do something besides go to the gym, though, and i'll likely get at least one meal out of her. :) and sunday...
pittsburgh's goin to the superbowl!
ok, i'll readily admit that i'm not the biggest football fan. but when i DO watch football, the steelers are obviously my team. i just have a hard time sitting still through hours of tv, especially when it gets so tense sometimes! so i usually tune in for the last 5 minutes or so... but i'm going to make an effort to check in periodically during the game to see how dem stillers are doing. :)
happy friday, everyone!
1.24.2009
all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if u seek amy
i've sadly become obsessed with the britney spears' song "if u seek amy." i seriously cannot stop listening to it. and the lyrics don't even make sense with the alternative meaning (hint: say "if u seek amy" fast), but the rhythm of it is just so gosh darn catchy. sure, some people may make fun of britney, but for some reason i've really rooted for her over the years. and i've always secretly liked her songs... hey, they're great to work out to!
i woke up nice and early today to relax and eat a nice breakfast (2 pieces ezekiel cinnamon raisin bread and a fruit bowl of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and pom seeds with mint yogi tea and agave nectar) before going to the 11 am yoga class at la fitness. i arrived with a few minutes to spare, but there were a lot of people there and very few spots were open. since i'm a complete yoga novice, i placed my mat between 2 people in the back row. now, there was plenty of room on either side of me for the two other people and the woman to my left didn't say a word. the older woman on my right, however, decided that she needed more leg room. as i was laying my mat down, she told me that there wasn't enough room and that i'd need to go to the front of the room. "there's plenty of room up there for you," she said and nodded her head towards the front. i looked at her and at the space between her mats (AMPLE space) and said something like "really? there's a lot of space..." and just to be difficult, she stretched her leg out and touched my mat with her big toe and looked up at me. i just raised my eyebrows, rolled up my mat and huffed "whatever, lady" before going out the door. i totally understand wanting to have enough room, but THERE WAS. i was soooo mad. i had been looking forward to yoga since monday night's class. i realize i could've just gone up front, but i don't like being front and center when i don't know what i'm doing. i think it was just a little bit uncalled for. so anyways, i ended up doing a smörgåsbord of gym exercises instead. i played basketball for about 20 minutes, then did 15 minutes on the recumbent bike, a little over 17 minutes on the elliptical, and about 37 minutes on the treadmill. i would've kept going on the treadmill and done weights, but one of the front desk attendants informed me i had a visitor...
mom and dad! they had apparently been calling my phone for the past hour and a half because they were coming to visit and when i didn't answer, they showed up at the most obvious place - the gym! i have to admit, when the girl said i had a visitor, i thought it was the cops. haha. i have no idea why i'd think that since i haven't done anything, but that was the first thought through my head. tee hee.
so i left the gym and then met my parents at my house. mom brought me 2 of the books she got for christmas (marley & me and twilight) and they brought me a yummy surprise - tonymisu from moio's!! we stayed in for a while and i showed them both how to play the wii... my mom tried wii fit, wii sports, and ddr. my dad tried a little bit of ddr but he was terrible at it. :) my mom seemed to like it, especially the wii fit, but my dad maintains that it's too expensive so they're not getting one. maybe i'll create a mii for her for the next time they come... we ended up in the strip for late lunch/early dinner. my dad really wanted to go to deluca's but we got there just a little too late. we walked around for a bit and then dad decided we were going to our old standby - the spaghetti warehouse. awesome, as always. but oddly enough, the hostess picked up a kid's menu for me... i'm 26. what am i supposed to do with a kid's menu? anyways, we each got trio dinners - apps, dinners (+salad/soup), and dessert. i got the chicken parm with pasta, a salad with balsamic and mozzarella sticks and ate about 1/3 of it. we all ended up with tiramisu, so my tonymisu will have to be tomorrow's treat. :)
after dinner we went to a new organic natural foods store that we passed on the way to the warehouse... right by nature. i'd swear the skies parted and pure sunlight was shining onto the place. it. was. awesome. ok, it was pretty much like whole foods/east end food co-op, but a bit cheaper. AND (important for in the strip) they give you a free parking token with a purchase. it was really nice inside... they had a really large selection of everything (but whole foods has a larger selection of produce), and their nut butter selection was nothing short of spectacular. sunbutter, almond butter, cashew butter, soynut butter, mystery butter, all kinds of wonderful butters. and they also have a lovely assortment of greek yogurt, including some i had never seen before. and their salad bar, both hot and cold... pretty good-looking stuff and $4/lb cheaper than whole foods!! PLUS they have a coffee bar that serves la prima coffee (YUMMMMM!). their coffee bean section wasn't super exciting but they have more teas than i have seen anywhere outside of nyc. seriously, their tea selection is incredible. my dad didn't seem too thrilled by the place (he calls it "organic crap" and won't eat anything that says "organic" on it... so weird), so i was a little rushed. i ended up with some hickory smoked turkey jerky and a strawberry "fruit leather." i tried the jerky and although it was quite tasty, i still prefer trader joe's teriyaki turkey jerky. tj's turkey jerky is also about $1.20 cheaper... but i loved this store and i think i'll make it a thursday night before or after volleyball treat since we play pretty close to the strip. for anyone that's interested, they're open 7 days a week 8am - 9pm.
i considered going back to the gym tonight after my parents left, but by the time i'd have gotten there, changed clothes, etc, it just wouldn't have been worth it. instead i might do some wii fit yoga (since i missed out on yoga this morning, haha)... or maybe i'll just hang out and relax. i'm gonna try to wake up even earlier tomorrow so that i can get to the gym with plenty of time to spare - yoga starts at 11 am again; this time with monday's instructor (yay!)... wish me luck in getting a spot! :)
i woke up nice and early today to relax and eat a nice breakfast (2 pieces ezekiel cinnamon raisin bread and a fruit bowl of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and pom seeds with mint yogi tea and agave nectar) before going to the 11 am yoga class at la fitness. i arrived with a few minutes to spare, but there were a lot of people there and very few spots were open. since i'm a complete yoga novice, i placed my mat between 2 people in the back row. now, there was plenty of room on either side of me for the two other people and the woman to my left didn't say a word. the older woman on my right, however, decided that she needed more leg room. as i was laying my mat down, she told me that there wasn't enough room and that i'd need to go to the front of the room. "there's plenty of room up there for you," she said and nodded her head towards the front. i looked at her and at the space between her mats (AMPLE space) and said something like "really? there's a lot of space..." and just to be difficult, she stretched her leg out and touched my mat with her big toe and looked up at me. i just raised my eyebrows, rolled up my mat and huffed "whatever, lady" before going out the door. i totally understand wanting to have enough room, but THERE WAS. i was soooo mad. i had been looking forward to yoga since monday night's class. i realize i could've just gone up front, but i don't like being front and center when i don't know what i'm doing. i think it was just a little bit uncalled for. so anyways, i ended up doing a smörgåsbord of gym exercises instead. i played basketball for about 20 minutes, then did 15 minutes on the recumbent bike, a little over 17 minutes on the elliptical, and about 37 minutes on the treadmill. i would've kept going on the treadmill and done weights, but one of the front desk attendants informed me i had a visitor...
mom and dad! they had apparently been calling my phone for the past hour and a half because they were coming to visit and when i didn't answer, they showed up at the most obvious place - the gym! i have to admit, when the girl said i had a visitor, i thought it was the cops. haha. i have no idea why i'd think that since i haven't done anything, but that was the first thought through my head. tee hee.
so i left the gym and then met my parents at my house. mom brought me 2 of the books she got for christmas (marley & me and twilight) and they brought me a yummy surprise - tonymisu from moio's!! we stayed in for a while and i showed them both how to play the wii... my mom tried wii fit, wii sports, and ddr. my dad tried a little bit of ddr but he was terrible at it. :) my mom seemed to like it, especially the wii fit, but my dad maintains that it's too expensive so they're not getting one. maybe i'll create a mii for her for the next time they come... we ended up in the strip for late lunch/early dinner. my dad really wanted to go to deluca's but we got there just a little too late. we walked around for a bit and then dad decided we were going to our old standby - the spaghetti warehouse. awesome, as always. but oddly enough, the hostess picked up a kid's menu for me... i'm 26. what am i supposed to do with a kid's menu? anyways, we each got trio dinners - apps, dinners (+salad/soup), and dessert. i got the chicken parm with pasta, a salad with balsamic and mozzarella sticks and ate about 1/3 of it. we all ended up with tiramisu, so my tonymisu will have to be tomorrow's treat. :)
after dinner we went to a new organic natural foods store that we passed on the way to the warehouse... right by nature. i'd swear the skies parted and pure sunlight was shining onto the place. it. was. awesome. ok, it was pretty much like whole foods/east end food co-op, but a bit cheaper. AND (important for in the strip) they give you a free parking token with a purchase. it was really nice inside... they had a really large selection of everything (but whole foods has a larger selection of produce), and their nut butter selection was nothing short of spectacular. sunbutter, almond butter, cashew butter, soynut butter, mystery butter, all kinds of wonderful butters. and they also have a lovely assortment of greek yogurt, including some i had never seen before. and their salad bar, both hot and cold... pretty good-looking stuff and $4/lb cheaper than whole foods!! PLUS they have a coffee bar that serves la prima coffee (YUMMMMM!). their coffee bean section wasn't super exciting but they have more teas than i have seen anywhere outside of nyc. seriously, their tea selection is incredible. my dad didn't seem too thrilled by the place (he calls it "organic crap" and won't eat anything that says "organic" on it... so weird), so i was a little rushed. i ended up with some hickory smoked turkey jerky and a strawberry "fruit leather." i tried the jerky and although it was quite tasty, i still prefer trader joe's teriyaki turkey jerky. tj's turkey jerky is also about $1.20 cheaper... but i loved this store and i think i'll make it a thursday night before or after volleyball treat since we play pretty close to the strip. for anyone that's interested, they're open 7 days a week 8am - 9pm.
i considered going back to the gym tonight after my parents left, but by the time i'd have gotten there, changed clothes, etc, it just wouldn't have been worth it. instead i might do some wii fit yoga (since i missed out on yoga this morning, haha)... or maybe i'll just hang out and relax. i'm gonna try to wake up even earlier tomorrow so that i can get to the gym with plenty of time to spare - yoga starts at 11 am again; this time with monday's instructor (yay!)... wish me luck in getting a spot! :)
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