Favorites Friday- 5/30/14

It's that time of week again, dolls. I hope you've all had a fabulous week and have plans to unwind this weekend. Here are my favorite things of the week.

Cookie Dough Cafe: I know I don't normally put food items on here, but this is one of my favorite things. I first tried Cookie Dough Cafe when I was down in Myrtle Beach and I was blown away by how it tasted exactly like raw cookie dough. For anyone who doesn't know what it is, Cookie Dough Cafe is, well, cookie dough but it isn't made with eggs so the risk for getting salmonella is gone. It's really a genius idea because it allows people to eat their most favorite food (cookie dough, duh), but not be at risk of getting sick. Kinda wish I'd thought of that.
It comes in various 'flavors', but you can only buy it at Fresh Market. Click here to find a Fresh Market near you. For more information on Cookie Dough Cafe, you can visit their website www.thecookiedoughcafe.com.

Crabtree and Evelyn: I love everything this company makes, especially their hand lotions. 

I always buy their lily scented ultra-moisturizing hand cream. It leaves your hands feeling like a baby's butt. I've tried a lot of different hand creams, but I've never found one that makes my hands as soft as this one. Plus, it comes in a beautiful package. You can buy your's here.

Sammy's Noodles: I'm just switching everything up this week, aren't I? Sammy's Noodles is a Chinese food restaurant in New York City that I go to literally every single time I'm there. I have never gone to New York City and not gone to Sammy's Noodles. They make their own noodles and they are to die for. I always order the general tso's chicken, seafood dumplings and shrimp lo mein. It's a lot of food and every time I go I say that I'm only going to order one of the entrees, but they're both just so good that I have to end up getting them both. Even when I go with my two cousins and my aunt and uncle, we have leftovers. They have amazing prices there to. To order everything I just said it only costs at most $35.  

Their address is 453 Avenue of the Americas #1 New York, NY 10011‎. You can call them at (212) 924-6688. 

Patterned Nylons: Recently, I've been wearing nylons a lot with my dresses and skirts. The good old class, plain black ones are great, but I keep seeing nylons with these great patterns on them and I'm really feeling them. I haven't experimented with any yet, but I definitely want to. 

How cool are these? You can get them at Bloomingdale's for only $25.

"Sporty" Swimwear: My family sails and the kind of bathing suits I typically buy usually aren't too suitable for that kind of activity. However, Juicy Couture came out with a line of "sporty" swimsuits this season and I'm really diggin' 'em! They're super stylish and more suitable for sailing and swimming. 

Get it at Bloomingdale's.

Get it at Bloomingdale's.

I love the back of this one. Buy it here.

I hope you guys enjoyed this weeks Favorites Friday and saw at least one thing that you guys want to try! Talk to you guys next week!

Happy Day After Memorial Day!

Hey guys! I hope you all had a great Memorial Day vacation. For Memorial Day weekend I went up to Portland, Maine. Shockingly enough, I had never been before. I was amazed at how beautiful the city and the Old Port was. And the food was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

I left Thursday afternoon.

Our motorhome.



We got to the Wassamki Springs campground about 3 hours later. We got our lot and started to put out the slides. Unfortunately, we almost hit a tree with the bedroom slide, so we had to get a new, more spacious spot.

After we got all of the slides out and hooked up, we headed out to the town to find a place to eat.

The Old Port.

We decided on a place called Boone's...because it was the only place we could find parking for.



When we walked in, it smelled wicked good and it was really busy, so we decided to stay. We got seated almost immediately.


The interior of Boone's.

I ordered the fried oysters and a side of french fries. 





Fried oysters with a slightly lemony sauce that had a bit of a spicy kick to it.

Amazing french fries with pepper and ketchup.

For dessert I order a slice of blueberry pie that they make fresh every morning. It was delicious.

Blueberry pie with sweet house-made whipped cream.



The next day (Friday), we went to the city to do some shopping.

OOTD

The first store we went in was Cross Jewelers. Since I had never been to Portland before, I had obviously never been to Cross, but my grandparents (whom I was with) had gone many times and had bought many great pieces from there, so I was excited to go take a look. 

After I got past the intimidating armed guard, I was enthralled with their selection. They had the most beautiful tourmaline jewelry I had ever seen. Definitely I must go place if your planning a trip to Portland.

For lunch we went to Gilbert's Chowder House. Apparently, they are known for having the best chowder in Portland.

I ordered clam chowder in a bread bowl.

  Amazing steamers.

For as much as Gilbert's touts their amazing chowder, I didn't think it was anything to write home about. Was it good chowder? Absolutely. But it wasn't like "Wow, I NEED to get that again!" There just weren't enough oysters. It was more like a potato chowder with like five tiny clams.

We did some more shopping. I went into this wonderful Fair Trade shop. I bought a Lucky Pig, which was made in Chile.

We also got gelato (yum!) from Gorgeous Gelato. It truly was the best gelato I've ever had. It was so rich and creamy. The flavors were out of this world. I got a scoop of lemoncello and a scoop of expresso. The lemoncello was amazing, but not in excess. The expresso was to die for. I wish I had asked for a smaller scoop of lemoncello and have the expresso be the larger scoop.

Expresso and lemoncello gelato in a waffle cone. 

Then I stopped off at the Holy Donut. They make their donuts out of potato, so I was a little unsure of what to expect. Turns out, it was the best donut I have ever had. I'm not really a huge fan of donuts, but this one was SO good! I had to get some to bring back to the motorhome (I would say to bring home, but we all know they didn't last that long). 

When we got back to the motorhome, I settled in for some "What Would You Do?"

My WWYD watching outfit. 

Saturday morning, we went to Cape Elizabeth. It was absolutely beautiful. For lunch we went to the Lobster Shack Restaurant. 

The restaurant had an absolutely gorgeous view. 

For lunch, we all had lobster rolls. I had never had a cold lobster roll with the mayonnaise before (only ever the hot buttered kind), but I thought it was delicious. The lobster itself was to die for. 

Can I get a yum?

We also bought a whoopie pie because everyone knows Maine whoopie pies are the best. 

We then went to a national park up that way (I don't remember what the name of it was). It was such a beautiful place. 

There was this little boy learning how to fly his kite and it was just the cutest thing. I had to take a picture. 

We headed back into the Old Port and went into a few shops. 

I got a colored Alex and Ani because I thought it would be nice to have a pop of color amidst all of the silver.

For dinner, we went out and intended to go to Fore Street, but they were full until 10 and we were all hungry. We decided to go back to Gilbert's since I guess I was the only one who wasn't thrilled with my chowder. 

We got another order of steamers for an appetizer and I got a small cup of seafood chowder. The seafood chowder was amazing. It was full of seafood and was seasoned very nicely. For my meal, I got fish and chips which was very good. It was a pretty big portion, too. I had leftovers. 

Seafood Chowder

Steamers

Fish and Chips

Sunday morning, we went out for breakfast at a diner on the Bayside. 

Sunday morning OOTD

Spanish omelet with home fries and white toast.

After breakfast, we went for a train ride along the coast line on this old train. It had beautiful old wood paneling all on the inside. The seats and lighting were all original. 

After the train ride, we went back to the Old Port and went into this amazing place called Vena's Fizz House. It's a bar that serves all natural soda and mocktails; no alcoholic beverages. All of the drinks are made right in front of you. None of the drinks are typical soda flavors (for example you might find Lumberjack Love or Chocolate Raspberry Shrub as options on the menu). 

I ordered the Chocolate Raspberry Shrub.

 

It was TO DIE FOR!!!! I might even go as far as to say that it was the best thing I had all vacation. I highly recommend going to Vena's if only because it's such a cool experience. But more than that, their drinks are so much better than you'd ever imagine. I definitely recommend the chocolate raspberry shrub.

When you finish in the bar area, you can walk down the steps into the shop area where you can buy the various syrups, etc that you would need to recreate the drink at home. Very cool. 

After we finished at Vena's, we went on a hunt for lobsters. We wanted to get some lobster to bring back to the motorhome to have for dinner as our last meal before we went home. First, we stopped at a fish market down a side street on the harbor. 

It was definitely a very authentic, port-side fish market. The smell said it all. While (of course) they did have live lobsters, they wouldn't steam them there. So we moved on. 

On our way back to the campsite, we saw a sign for a candy store (Len Libby) and decided to take a detour to check it out. It was pretty cool. They had a life sized moose made out of chocolate. 

We bought a bunch of stuff (dark chocolate nut bark, chocolate covered espresso beans, chocolate caramel sea salt truffles and various other chocolates).

We drove back to the motorhome and later my Gramma and I went out on the hunt for lobster. We went to Oceans Garden Restaurant because it was the nearest place to our campsite. 

We had success. They had live lobsters there and we had them steam three. We went back out to the parking lot and searched for our car. Eventually, we found it. As I stepped into the car, I look down at the carpet and saw the lack of travel magazines. Hmm, I thought, someone must have brought them into the motorhome. Then I looked up at the radio control panel and thought it looked different from how I remembered it. "Gram," I said. "I don't think this is our car." We quick got out and sure enough we had gotten into the wrong car. It wasn't even the same kind as ours. 

We went to Hannaford's next to get nutcrackers. They had good sized lobsters there, so we decided to buy two more. Then we made our way back to the campsite. 

We set up dinner outside. 

Me with my fabulous lobster bib. 

Yum!

For our last night, we had a campfire. 

And, of course, s'mores. 

We were trying to melt the chocolate.

It's perfect!

Finally the moment we've all been waiting for. 

Sammy wants in on the eats.

And that was my Memorial Day Weekend! 

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend as well!









Summer Slim Down

How's it going guys? Summer is fast approaching and, like many others, I've gotten a little puffy over winter. I have approximately four weeks to lose my fluff and I wanted to share my plan with you guys.

Whenever you're on a journey to lose weight, it's important to remember that it's not all about the number on the scale or even really what you look like. It's about how you feel about yourself and your health. What I mean by that is, when you look in the mirror, are you happy about what you see? Are you proud of the person you see looking back at you? In order to feel happy about your body, you need to love it. Not anyone else. You.


Two weeks ago, I started on my 2k14 summer slim down. So far, I've lost 5 pounds. I'll share with you guys the meal plan that I followed and the workouts that I did. This is an adapted version of a meal plan that I found on skinnyms.com and I recommend that you guys take a look at her website for additional healthy recipes.
Please keep in mind that I am not a certified nutritionist and that you may need to alter this plan in order to meet your personal daily caloric needs.

Day One:

Breakfast: Whole-Grain Banana Blueberry Pancakes (274 cal.) + 1 tablespoon maple syrup (52 cal.)

Lunch: Slow Cooker Hearty Vegetable and Bean Soup (183 cal.)

Dinner: 2 slices of Zucchini Bell Pepper Pizza (230 cal.)

Garden Salad with Lemon & Oil Dressing (220 cal.)

Snack Option: Hard-Boiled Egg (78 cal.)

Total: 1,037 calories

Day Two:

Breakfast: 2 Individual Egg and Spinach Bowls (168 cal.)

Lunch: Quinoa and Vegetable Stir-Fry (250 cal.)

Dinner: Slow Cooker Enchilada (249 cal.)

Dessert Option: Sweet and Savory Parfait (374 cal.)

Total: 1,041 calories

Day Three:

Breakfast: Cinnamon Roll Oatmeal (327 cal.)

Lunch: Asian Chicken Wrap (123 cal.)

Dinner: Slow Cooker Cheesy Spaghetti with Turkey Sausage (256 cal.)

Kale Caesar Salad (217 cal.)

Snack Option: Slow Cooker Cinnamon and Honey Nuts (192 cal.)

Total: 1,115 calories

Day Four:

Breakfast: Overnight French Toast Casserole (299 cal.)

Lunch: Clean-Eating Cobb Salad (282 cal.)

Dinner: Slow Cooker Chicken Chili (142 cal.)

Citrus and Spinach Salad with Creamy Lemon Dressing (318 cal.)

Snack Option: Orange (45 cal.)

Total: 1,086 calories

Day Five:

Breakfast: Skinny Fruit and Yogurt Salad (140 cal.)

Lunch: Spicy Potato and Chickpea Stew (385 cal.)

Dinner: Skinny Lasagna Roll (240 cal.)

Snack Option: Peanut Butter and Honey Oat Bar (157 cal.)

Dessert Option: Slow Cooker Brown Rice Pudding (194 cal.)

Total: 1116 calories

Day Six:

Breakfast: Pita Pocket Breakfast Sandwich (297 cal.)

Lunch: Slow Cooker Fiesta Chicken Soup (112 cal.)

Dinner: Three Cheese Ziti with Turkey (289 cal.)

Garden Salad with Lemon & Oil Dressing (220 cal.)

Snack: Iced Grande Skinny Mocha Latte from Starbucks (100 cal.)

Total: 1018 calories

Day Seven:

Breakfast: 2 pieces Crustless Asparagus Quiche (106 cal.)

Lunch: Spinach and Bean Burrito Wrap (282 cal.)

Dinner: Skinny Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Roast (178 cal.)

Farro Salad with Apples and Walnuts (389 cal.)

Snack: Venti Iced Caramel Macchiato from Starbucks (370 cal.)

Total: 1325 calories

Day Eight:

Breakfast: Pick Me Up Breakfast Smoothie (297 cal.)

Lunch: Creamy Pesto Pasta Salad (190 cal.)

Dinner: Baked Parmesan Chicken (197 cal.)

Black Bean and Brown Rice Salad (292 cal.)

Snack Options: Slow Cooker Skinny Apple Sauce (82 cal.), Orange (85 cal.)

Total: 1058 calories

Day Nine:

Breakfast: Pumpkin Spice Bread (177 cal.)

Lunch: Veggie and Pesto Sandwich (260 cal.)

Dinner: Quinoa and Shrimp Paella (275 cal.)

Snack Option: Nectarine (63 cal.)

Dessert Option: Apple Berry Crisp (280 cal.)

Snack: 1 cup of 1% Lowfat Milk (102 cal.)

Total: 1094 calories

Day Ten:

Breakfast: Blueberry Banana Bar (269 cal.)

Lunch: Asian Salad with Crispy Chicken (173 cal.)

Dinner: Southwestern Black Bean Casserole (259 cal.)

Cucumber and Tomato Salad (66 cal.)

Dessert Option: Slow Cooker Bananas Foster (110 cal.)

Snack: 1 cup Almond Milk (60 cal.)

Total: 937 calories

Day Eleven:

Breakfast: Banana Oat Pancakes with Apricot Compote (312 cal.)

Lunch: Clean Eating Chicken Salad Pita (240 cal.)

Dinner: Skinny Quinoa Skillet Supper (221 cal.)

Watermelon, Tomato and Feta Salad (162 cal.)

Dessert Option: Slow Cooker Fudge (114 cal.)

Total: 1049 calories

Day Twelve:

Breakfast: Yogurt Parfait (184 cal.)

Lunch: Turkey wrap, potato chips and chocolate chip cookie (540)

Dinner: Greek Pita Sandwich (250 cal.)

Total: 974 calories

Day Fourteen:

Cheat Day

Workout:

As for as working out goes, I don't exactly have a specific plan that I do everyday. I tend to do what I have time for. However, here's a sample of what a workout of mine usually looks like:

40 classic crunches

50 squats

20 lunges (10 per leg)

50 push-ups (increase by 5 each day)

20 minutes run on the treadmill at 7.5 MPH at an incline of 3

1 hour of Pilates

For my Pilates, I do Blogilates videos on YouTube.If you are limited on time for working out, I HIGHLY recommend that you forgo all of the things that I listed above and just do some various Blogilates videos. You will see the difference in your body in less than a week. Cassey truly is an amazing instructor and very motivating. She has hundreds of videos for all different parts of the body including total body workouts and cardio. I highly, highly recommend that you check her out on YouTube and, if you stick with it, I promise you will notice a difference.

These upcoming four weeks before I go away for summer, I'm going to be trying out a diet called The Fast Metabolism Diet by Haylie Pomroy. It was recommended to me a by a few friends of mine who have done it in the past and lost a pretty significant amount of weight on it. I'm excited to try it and to let you guys know how it goes. It you'd like to purchase the book, you can do so here. You can buy the app that you need to go along with it on the iTunes store for $2.95.

If anyone decides to try the meal plan listed above, let me know how it goes for you. Good luck!