A Day in DC!

Happy Friday!! Yesterday was a wonderful day thanks to some good friends. Leslie recently started dating someone name Eno and of course one of the first orders of business was to plan a double date! We decided to make the day of it and go to Washington DC for the day to peruse the museums and enjoy the lovely weather.

A whale!!

We got to DC around one o'clock and walked over to the Natural History museum as it's my favorite! I love the exhibits and the giant animal displays. We all had so much fun looking at all of the exhibits. Well, except the live bug exhibit. Those furry tarantulas are no joke! Blech!

"For me?? You shouldn't have!!"

Following our very educational wander through the museum, we went outside to walk around a bit and enjoy the eighty degree weather! We stumbled across an old fashioned ice cream truck that belonged to a company called Goodies. They are based in DC and they are dedicated to using real ingredients and old-fashioned practices to make amazing desserts. Eno got a root beer float and RJ got an order of their custard (which I had to taste of course to see if it was poisonous). Honestly, their vanilla custard was the best I have ever had! So creamy and the vanilla bean was the star of the show!

When dinner time rolled around, we headed over to Buffalo Wild Wings for some wings and beers! For my main meal, I ordered the grilled chicken salad with the balsamic dressing on the side. 

And of course I had to get my favorite, hard cider :) Unfortunately, they didn't have Angry Orchard, so I tried Woodchuck, but I wasn't a fan. It wasn't as sweet as Angry Orchard, but at least now I know!

I had a fantastic day and hope to repeat it very, very soon!

Cheesecake=Love

Happy Easter my loves!! I hope everyone had a wonderful day full of family fun! I know I did!

All the ladies! Birthday girl is in the middle :)

I will post tomorrow about Easter, but today I am going to talk about my fantastic night last night! My group of friends went to The Cheesecake Factory to celebrate our buddy Beeta's birthday and we had a blast. The only thorn in the whole evening was that we had to wait about three hours to get a table! My dearest Cheesecake Factory, why don't you do reservations??

While we waited, we headed over to Dave & Buster's to partake in some adult beverages to take the edge off the wait.

Once we finally sat down, I dove in to the ginormous menu. Anyone who has been to CF knows that the portions are HUGE. I am talking, two-people-can-split-it-and-still-have-leftovers-huge. They are also known for having some of the most fattening and calorie-rich entrees of any chain restaurant in the country, so it's fair to say I was a bit nervous about what to order.

My nerves were calmed when I found CF's new Skinnylicious menu that has entrees under 650 calories! Eureka! In the end, I decided on the chicken pasta and was not disappointed! It was the perfect portion size and left me comfortably full (and ready for cheesecake!) The tomato sauce was also rich in flavor and I could taste the basil and garlic in there. Yum-oh!

For dessert, RJ and I split  the Chocloate Tuxedo Cream Cheesecake. Okay, okay, I ate my piece and most of his too. I couldn't help it! It was too good! A layer of fudge cake in in the middle of cheesecake and marscapone cream?? Come on, I had to devour it!

Heaven is a place on Earth...

After dinner, we headed over to Dave & Buster's for some arcade fun before finally heading home, exhausted. I had a blast hanging out with my friends and hope to do it again very, very soon!

LOVE these guys! 

How do you order at restaurants that are notorious for being unhealthy?

A Day of Cooking

Happy St. Patrick's Day, all!! I have spent most of my Sunday in the kitchen, preparing a delicious Irish meal for my friends. I wanted to make something traditional and warm, so I decided on an Irish beef stew. I found the recipe on EatingWell.com and made some adjustments based on what I had on-hand.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds boneless leg of lamb, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces (I used chunks of beef)
• 1 3/4 pounds white potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 large leeks, white part only, halved, washed (see Tip) and thinly sliced
• 3 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 stalks celery, thinly sliced
• 1 14-ounce can reduced-sodium chicken broth
•  (I used reduced sodium beef broth)
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup packed fresh parsley leaves, chopped 
• ( I omitted this)

PREPARATION

1. Combine lamb, potatoes, leeks, carrots, celery, broth, thyme, salt and pepper in a 6-quart slow cooker; stir to combine. Put the lid on and cook on low until the lamb is fork-tender, about 8 hours. Stir in parsley before serving.

TIPS & NOTES

• Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 1 month. | Equipment: 6-quart slow cooker

• Tip: To clean leeks, trim and discard green tops and white roots. Split leeks lengthwise and place in plenty of water. Swish the leeks in the water to release any sand or soil. Drain. Repeat until no grit remains.

Cooking Away...

As you can see, this recipe is easy as pie. Just literally throw everything in the slow cooker and go about your day! And it smells heavenly- I am sniffing as I write this post :)

Along with the stew, I am serving fresh ,multigrain bread and a bundt cake for dessert! I dyed the cake batter green with some food coloring to make it  a bit more festive. 

Shamrock green!

I will take pictures of the finished project and do a recap post tomorrow! Now I am off to play with these two little buggers: 

Enjoy your Saint Patrick's Day!!

Running to HGTV

Good mornin' lovelies! Sorry for the slight delay on the birthday bash post, I spent my Sunday relaxing and taking impromptu naps all day :)

I woke up bright and early on Saturday, partially because I am incapable of sleeping past 8am, an partially because I was so excited for my night! I made the usual breakfast of peanut butter oatmeal with a side of fresh blueberries, then slipped on my sneakers to head to the gym.

I hopped on the treadmill and ran four miles on a 1.5 incline while watching HGTV. Running while watching Property Brothers has become a new Saturday morning tradition in my life, obviously. After some delicious foam rolling, I did a few ab and arm moves before calling it a day.

Me and Sarah!

The rest of the day consisted of a trip to the mall to return some clothes and buy my dress for the night(!)

Around 4:30, my friend sorority sister, Sarah arrived to partake in the evening festivities! It was so good to see her since she lives about two hours away and I rarely get a chance to spend time with her. We made it to the Chinese Buffet a little early and made our way to the party room where our table was set up. All of my friends arrived soon after, and we spent the entire meal joking, telling stories and laughing. It was such a fantastic dinner and I hope we can all do it again soon!

I know all of you are wondering about my food choice, and I decided to follow my own advice and order from the menu instead of opting for the full buffet. Sarah and I ordered a plate of mixed veggies to share and I ordered sushi to go along with it. A Philadelphia roll and a (yummy) vegetable roll rounded out my meal. Sorry for thew lack of pictures of dinner, I was too busy giggling and eating to even get my phone out of my purse!

After dinner, I headed home to get ready for the night out in DC! We were heading to a new nightclub called Rumors which was supposed to be pretty good. We drove into the city and parked at a friend's house to avoid the headache of finding a spot in Dupont Circle on a Saturday night. We hopped on the metro and in two very short stops, we were there!

Yeah..we crazy...

We walked in and met up with the rest of our group who could not make it to dinner. The club was so much fun! The DJ was on point, playing some older dance songs with some newer songs that had us going wild! I danced for most of the night, enjoying the time with my friends.

Overall, my birthday was amazing and I could not have asked for a better night. I got to celebrate my 23rd year with twice some truly amazing people and I will always remember it :)

D'awww :)

What show do you  like to watch while you workout?

Behind Property Brothers, my second favorite show to watch is Paula Deen's cooking show. I think all of the butter  and bacon she uses inspires me to run harder...