Quick Weekend in Vegas

A few months ago, one of my best friends, Amanda, moved to Vegas for work. She is now a big hot shot in marketing at one of the major hotel groups out there, so I planned a trip to visit. I arrived Friday evening, and we stopped at the strip on the way back to her apartment for pizza at Five50 in Aria (Aria is one of the newest hotels on the strip and one of the nicest, based on my thorough inspection of its lobby).

Five50 was delicious! We shared garlic bread, a chopped salad, and the meatiest pizza they had.
 I really liked the ambiance of the restaurant, too--not too dressy or casual, perfectly fine for conversation, and  We ended up bringing all but two slices of the pizza home because we were stuffed, but that made for a perfect lunch the next day. The rest of the evening focused on catching up, relaxing on the couch, and getting to sleep relatively early.

Unfortunately, I didn't sleep in much, but I still felt rested upon waking up. We ate some cereal (a special treat! Amanda had some delicious mango granola cereal from TJ's) and then headed out for a walk around Amanda's neighborhood. She lives in a more residential area of Vegas, and it was really nice to see the parks nearby with lots of active kids, families, and dogs. We even saw a mini-dog show with four dogs competing to win what was obviously a rather prestigious and competitive honor.

Amanda and I spent a lot of Saturday just relaxing, hanging out at home, watching The Mindy Project, eating leftover pizza. Later in the afternoon I suggested pampering ourselves, so we headed to a local nail salon for manicures and pedicures (in the fancy massage chairs!). I decided on grey, shimmery nails, which turned out to look a little like abalone colors, and blue toes. We agreed it was a mermaid theme.

After a quick grocery trip, we whipped up some veggie quesadillas at home and munched on too many chips with guac and pineapple salsa. We also made brownies and topped them with ice cream, which is one of life's great duos. Amanda had Pitch Perfect, which I've only seen once, and my love for Anna Kendrick only grew watching it a second time. How is she so awesome?

So on Sunday we basically repeated our entire routine from Saturday: coffee/tea, cereal, long walk, but then we spiced it up with brunch! We went to Honey Salt, which I highly recommend. Amanda had the short rib egg slider, and I chose the roasted apple pancakes.

Both were incredible! Plus, the restaurant is just so cute, and they have a salt scrub in the bathroom that made my hands feel soft like butter. We also contributed a haiku to the guest book, which was a cute way of presenting the bill.

We did a little window shopping after brunch and then headed to the apartment so I could pack up. Before my flight, we headed to the strip once more. Amanda showed me the stunning Chinese New Year decorations at The Bellagio,

we browsed the "Women Artists" exhibit, we checked out the Cosmopolitan hotel, and we stopped at Jean Phillipe's incredibly artistic dessert displays. We also grabbed sandwiches for an early dinner, since my flight was during dinnertime, and I snagged two croissants to bring home to share with Terry (chocolate and almond).

After a quick stop at the Bellagio fountain, we headed to the airport and said our goodbyes.

Not at the Bellagio fountain, but a nice photo

The weekend, while quick, helped me completely relax. It was wonderful to step back from apartment hunting and baby stuff to catch up with my friend and clear my head a bit. I think it worked, too, because I haven't had stomachaches in several days!

And of course, it was wonderful to come home to my favorite boys. Scout ran around the house for about a half hour after I came home, so I'd say he must have missed me a little. (Terry expressed his sentiment by joyfully eating the croissant I brought him, which is his way of saying he loves me.)

A Wonderful Surprise for WIAW

Another Wednesday here and another round of foods. Interestingly, even though I initially reportedthat I have no aversions, I’ve stumbled upon quite a few “problem” foods that, for one reason or another, have caused enough trauma to make me want to avoid them. That list includes:

• Chipotle—I’ve now gotten two severe cases of stress stomach (aggravation of my nonulcer dyspepsia) immediately after eating Chipotle, so while I still enjoy the food, I think it’s best to avoid it altogether. But man, they have good guacamole.
• Candied nuts—This one is so strange. While we were in Europe and I was only a few weeks pregnant, Terry went crazy over the candied nuts available at Oktoberfest. I ate a few handfuls one day, but after that I felt completely repulsed whenever I smelled them around Europe (which, surprisingly, was rather often). Ironically, we never eat or buy candied almonds here in LA, but of course one day (before we had announced the pregnancy), we went to a football game with Terry’s family, and Terry’s uncle kept offering everyone—what else?—candied almonds. Ugh. My stomach churned every time they went by, but since we weren't announcing yet I had to just deal.
• Morning tea—Another weird one. Most books and my doctor agree that some caffeine (up to 250 mg, or about one or two cups of coffee) each day is okay. I don’t drink coffee, but normally I love my morning cup of tea. Lately (just the last two weeks or so), while I still think tea sounds good, I’m just not enjoying the taste. So I may need to find a new morning routine to enjoy, because sipping out of my mug while curling up with the kitten—even for five minutes—makes the mornings just a little bit better. Perhaps five minutes of reading or stretching instead…
• Sweets—I did mention this one last time, but I feel it’s worth another shout out because I never would have expected it. I think I assumed my sweet tooth would get even more intense with pregnancy (although, when you crave sweets after breakfast, how much worse can it get?), but it’s gone the other way. Some days, I don’t eat any dessert. It’s not an aversion; it’s just a lack of desire. And that’s just so strange.

But overall, I’ve enjoyed most foods as I normally do, especially homemade foods. I think the Chipotle incidents have made me nervous about eating out. But I went to Lazy Dog Café the other day and enjoyed their chicken hummus salad and edamame without any problems. Here’s what I ate today:

Since my morning started extra early (I subbed for a teacher whose schedule begins at 6:45), I ate an extra hearty breakfast to get me through to lunch—a small bowl of cereal plus one and a half pieces of French toast topped with peanut butter, sliced almonds, and syrup.

For my midmorning snacks I had an apple around 9 am and then a KIND bar at 11 am. I grabbed a small brownie from the faculty room before the last class of the day, around noon. It was only okay.

And then I got the world’s best Christmas present: Terry came home early!!! He was supposed to arrive Friday, but he showed up at my school and was waiting in the office when I finished work. Of course, several of my friends were in the office at the time, so I turned bright red, but I was too thrilled to see Terry to be embarrassed. What a wonderful way to celebrate the season! I was even happier than the time I bought all those OXO containers:

On the way home, we stopped for a few groceries at TJs. I had a giant spaghetti squash waiting for us at home, and I couldn’t wait to roast it up to enjoy with that spinach, some marinara, and mozzarella. But since that process too awhile, we decided to plate up a big board of salami, cheeses, crackers, hummus, and cucumbers, plus a spinach salad. We also nibbled on a few Christmas cookies, a gift from our neighbor. I left the squash for Terry for dinner and headed to work.

After a fun, quick day of work, I heated up some leftover spaghetti squash with mozzarella and then devoured another bowl of cereal. 

And now I'm so tired from it all that I can't eat or write anymore. It was a long day, but a wonderful surprise in the middle made it a fantastic one. I still can't believe Terry is home for the holidays (at least through the first weekend in January!), and I'm beyond thrilled. 

Another little fun surprise today was a sweet gift from my mom--more maternity clothes! She got my some leggings and a few tops. I'll be sure to snap some photos of my maternity outfits, because I've found it pretty tough to do maternity shopping. Mostly, I've stuck with Pea in the Pod (sale items only) and Motherhood. I'll let you know how I feel about the quality once I've worn things a few times!

Hope you had as wonderful a day as I did!

Cables & Cardio Workout + WIAW

After my not-sure-I-could-ever-be-a-stay-at-home-wife post from Monday, yesterday turned into quite the whirlwind! I woke up to drive Terry to work, came home to work out, then spent most of the day with my friend Katie and her gorgeous baby girl Ainsley. We went for a walk, ate lunch, and baked Carmelitas from Pinterest. Katie and I are both guilty of pinning delicious recipes and then never actually making them, so I loved her idea of picking something sweet and going for it!

And ooohh my, were these soooo sweet! Definitely a once-in-a-very-long-while treat. But the spoonfuls we devoured right out of the oven tasted like caramel pizookie. I need more Pinterest in my life, apparently!

In addition to yesterday's excitement, I've been enjoying some fantastic workouts around here. I've really been feelin' it this week, so I completed this one on Monday (Terry and I are both STILL sore, two days later--perhaps I should thank the 150 jumping lunges we did?):

Some notes on this workout:

• For each set, you complete the same cardio blast after each strength exercise. So on the first set, you do the cable upright row, then one minute of jumping jacks, then the cable overhead press, then one minute of jumping jacks again, then the cable biceps curl, back to one minute of jumping jacks, etc. When you move to the next set (starting over again at the upright rows), you switch the cardio blast to the jump rope.
• All the strength exercises can be done using dumbbells if cables aren't available to you. For the straight-arm lat pull down, switch to a wide row.
• No jump rope? No problem: do tuck jumps instead.
• We didn't have a timer with us, so we just did 60 jumping jacks, 60 jumps on the jump rope, and 30 alternating jumping lunges for each round. You can approximate based on your fitness level.
• Make it easier: Lighten the load for your weights for the strength, but do your best to get to 10 reps for each round. For the cardio, reduce the amount of time (45 or 30 seconds), and rest as needed.
• Make it harder: Increase resistance/load for your weights. For cardio, increase the amount of time, try jump roping on one foot at a time (I did 30 jumps on the right foot, then 30 on the left), or switch the jumping jacks to star jumps.

I love using cables because they are a safe way to challenge your muscles. Much as I love dumbbells (and I sure do!), cables offer plenty of variety too. Your core is more engaged because it's a less stable environment, so you're getting a well-rounded workout. If you try it out, let me know if you're as sore as I am!

In other workout news, yesterday I hopped on the treadmill for the following:

• 1 minute walk
• 3 min run
• 2 min faster run
• 1 min even faster run
• Repeat three times for 28 minutes total

And today I ran about four miles around our neighborhood. It feels good to be on track with my workouts!

Other goings-on:

Ridiculous LA traffic. Note the time. WHY??

This delicious, simple, perfect-for-summer meal, thanks to Daily Garnish. Great way to incorporate all our farmer's market vegetables!

Crunchy Vegetable Sesame Noodle Salad

Our apartment is sweltering. We're having trouble sleeping, and poor Scout just can't get comfortable. He walks around, lays out, then gets up and looks for another place to try. 

The aforementioned Katie recommended this Trader Joe's coconut milk ice cream yesterday. It's seriously delicious and creamy and the perfect texture. Ideal for these hot summer days!

Today's treat was homemade lemonade, made with honey instead of sugar. Perfect for my husband, who's home sick today.

And now for today's WIAW:
Check out the other WIAWs!

Breakfast: French toast with slivered almonds, maple syrup, and tea

Half of a KIND bar for pre-run fuel

Lunch: Leftover crunchy vegetable noodle salad (above) - I ate it cold and it tasted perfect after a hot run

Snack: a peach, plus cereal

Snack #2: that lemonade I mentioned (yum!)

 Dinner: BBQ salmon prepared on a cedar plank, which we soaked in pinot noir, plus pancetta Brussels sprouts

Terry kept raving about what a great combination these were, and I completely agree. He did a fantastic job with the cedar plank salmon, and I'm getting the hang of these Brussels sprouts!

And dessert: Carmelitas (mentioned above) and vanilla ice cream--I'm off to enjoy that now! Have a great Thursday!

Of possible interest: 

• Homemade Fudge Pops (100 Days of Real Food)
• Raw Honey Lemonade (Organic Spark)
• Photographic Series Showing What 200 Calories of Food Looks Like in Different Foods (ArtFido)

Sprouts Farmers Market

Happy May to you! And happy May to West LA, because we have a new grocery store!

Today I (along with a few other local bloggers and media) got to tour the new Sprouts Farmers Market, located on Westwood Boulevard, just north of Sepulveda. Surprisingly, I've never shopped at a Sprouts, though they've popped up all over Southern California in recent years.

The tour today provided a sneak peak at the lovely store and a chance to ask some questions about how Sprouts stocks its shelves.

First, Sprouts is called "Sprouts Farmers Market" because they try to emulate a sense of shopping at a local farmers market, hence the wooden crates and fairly natural light.

Sprouts emphasizes that their specialty is produce, and they certainly do host a variety of fruits and vegetables.

Our lovely "tour guide", Lauren, offered tons of fun facts about the rest of the store too...

Tomorrow the store is hosting a huge grand opening and has crazy sales throughout the store.

Sprouts, like many grocery stores, has their own brand of some foods. We each received a goodie bag today, and these wafers were delicious!

Lauren called this label the "three Nos" - No artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives. 

Perhaps my favorite part of the store: a bulk spice section, so if you don't want a full jar of a spice you can just grab what you need.

Tons of coffee options, including free samples.

The bulk section truly impressed me--especially the bulk whole wheat flour! Have you ever heard of such a thing?

LOVE this idea--small blocks of cheese to try something new!

A refrigerated bread section for specialty breads and sprouted breads.

A culture I can definitely agree with!

A deli and soup section, complete with Boar's Head meats.

A HUGE Vitamins section--I'm already eager to head back and buy some daily multivitamins, because they have such a wide selection.

(I included this sign partially for an inside joke--my family and our family friends always tell this silly joke about a guy named Arty who murders three people and is paid a buck for it, and then the paper the next day says, "Arty Chokes Three for a Dollar").

Other highlights:

• A bakery, a meat counter with custom-cut meats, and alcohol (coming soon).
• Foods for every lifestyle, from gluten free to vegan to carnivores to splurges.
• A wide range of options for most foods so you can select the brand you like.
• NO loyalty card required--same price for everyone (hallelujah!).

And my honest opinion, based only on my first impression: I love it! I am thrilled to have another grocery store close to our home, and I really can't wait to go back and scour the shelves for all the foods I really love. I already noticed some of my favorite brands, which I can normally only find at specialty stores or Whole Foods:

Overall, I'd say Sprouts is a cross between Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. It has the wide selection and variety of Whole Foods but the awesome prices of Trader Joe's. I imagine I'll still frequent the actual farmers market for most of our produce, but I'm excited to make use of Sprouts' packaged goods that I normally can't find at Trader Joe's.

Our swag bags! So generous of Sprouts to offer some samples. :-) 

Scout had fun with that one...

To find a Sprouts Farmers Market near you, check out their locations. I had a wonderful experience today and look forward to sharing about future visits!

What's your favorite grocery store and why?

Monday Off

Before we get started tonight, I have to share what looks to be a fantastic workout from Bob Harper. We're catching up on one of my favorite shows, and I think this no-equipment-necessary workout would kick anyone's butt!

Bob Haper's Last Chance Workout (from The Biggest Loser)
Use a shuffled deck of cards and randomly select one at a time. The suit of each card drawn dictates your exercise, and the number* (obviously) tells how many reps to do.

• Clubs: Push Ups
• Diamonds: Squats
• Spades: Thrusters
• Hearts: Burpees (because, you know, we all <3 burpees)

*All face cards are 10 reps; Ace is 11.

Yeah, I'll give that a try when I feel like torturing myself sometime soon. Anyone care to join me?


Today was a fantastic was to spend my day off. Jenn came over for a terrific workout (will share soon, but it needs some tweaking), and we finished off the last of the pancake batter for breakfast. Delicious and perfect to round out our workout!

A bit later I joined Jenn at her place for a work session (I graded almost an entire set of essays--miracle) and for a scrumptious lunch. I love eating meals with Jenn because she's so creative. Instead of the usual Greek salad (which I already love), Jenn added some delicious olive oils and vinegars, lemon pepper, baby greens instead of Romaine, and avocado. SOOOO good!

(I love Jenn's bowls and the natural light in her apartment.)

Finally I headed to the grocery store and then home for a few chores. I even sneaked (<--had to look it up, but "sneaked" is preferred, and "snuck" is more of a slang evolution of the term) in about 20 minutes of reading in the warm sun--with sunscreen of course! For dinner, I whipped up a super easy and delicious spaghetti squash dish with roasted onion and eggplant, sauteed spinach, marinara, and goat cheese.

Looks gross, so you just have to take my word for it. Or try it for yourself!

Also, Terry and I are trying to find ways to spruce up our evening choices of liquid--but in a healthy way. Instead of beer, wine, or cocktails, tonight we made a little fizzy delight--pomegranate sparkling juice (from TJ's), club soda, and a squeeze of lemon. Quite refreshing, and more fun than water, especially in a mason jar!

Tonight Terry and I are catching up on some DVR action and prepping for the week ahead. (There may or may not be some strawberry ice cream involved.) We have all four days of morning workouts planned!

How do you like to spend your three-day weekends?