Love at first bite...

Morning, all and Happy Friday!  WeeeeeeeeeeeeJ  

I'm SUPER GIDDY this morning given that we went from cloudy & humid yesterday to SUNNY AND BREEZY THIS morning.  Happy, happy, joy, joy.J

And did anyone else see this list circulating the web this week???  I was CRACKING UP since I've done nearly ALL of them...and LOVE itJ  (ps-and who even knew "Friendsgiving" was a 'thing' with OTHER groups???  We've been bringing Friendsgiving realness since pre-blog 2008!J)  

ANYWAY...back to my post for you today, I just HAD to share a lunch I had with my Mom on Wednesday afternoon as we made our way down to Haddonfield, NJ to "The British Chip Shop."  Seeing as how we had SOMUCHFUN there at Harry Potter Trivia Night, I was anxious to go back and sample a few more menu delights.

We started with the bean dip, thinking Katie would INHALE THIS.  She didn't.

But WE did...salty deliciousness topped with cheese...ummmmm, OK???

And for lunch, we did our favorite 'half-sies' and split both of our entrees so neither of us had TOO much decadence.  In the 'lighter corner,' an INCREDIBLE Beet salad...  

This salad was PERFECTION, with the fresh beets, creamy and tangy goat cheese, crunchy walnuts and the perfect compliment from the lemon vinaigrette.  It was definitely a salad you would have been HAPPY to have as an entree (cause, let's be real, some just do NOT fit that bill)

And my Mom got her FIRST EVER taste of Indian food from my order of Chicken Tikka Masala..

I know that seems like a random selection at a BRITISH CHIP shop, but apparently Indian cuisine is very prevalent in England, so I was OK with skipping the fish & chips for the dayJ

Tender chicken in the rich & creamy masala sauce with just a KICK of spice at the end, all served over a bed of sticky Jasmine rice.  Not to mention, the dish was HUGE and lasted enough for my Mom & I + dinner of leftovers for Scott.  Not too shabby.  And it made my Mom a TOTAL fan.  It was love at first biteJ

And there was just NO WAY I was leaving without the STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING!!!!!

This brown sugar/date cake is one of my favs that I don't attempt to make for myself all too often, so I thought I'd let the experts do their thangJ  Soft and caramel-laced cake drizzled with toffee sauce and served warm with a scoop of ice cream.  I mean....do I even need to say anything else???

OK...but we DID have one other dessert that we picked up in Haddonfield, but I feel as though I must return and take enough photos to document the experience as this place deserves it's own properly-documented shout out since they had....some of the BEST CUPCAKES EVERRRRRRRRRRR!  

And I don't say this lightly as I am a FIRM BELIEVER that all cupcakes are NOT created equalJ  How's that for a tease??  And I tease because I know we are going back in the VERY near future and can't wait to give a full reviewJ

ANYWAY...back to FALL, shall we???  My Mom spied some FALLEN LEAVES and I was SOOOOO excited...

And the pretty weather is supposed to keep on keepin on right through the weekendJ  Hope you guys have plans for a great oneJ

Enjoy it!

Ode to NYC...

I'll let these posts, ode to my beloved NYC, tell my love for the city today.

Worth 1,000 words

NYC Loves

Summer in the City

Snacks in the City

Fan for life

How to celebrate the end of 6th grade

Brooklyn in Bloom

My Super Sweet NYC, take 2

Wintery NYC

A Brooklyn Christmas

My Super Sweet NYC

A Night out with the Yankees

Out & About

We need to be LIKETHIS...

Welllll...yesterday wasn't a great example of 'balanced' eating at allJ  So here's a classic case of 'do as I say, not as I do."J  I'm blaming it on the fact that it was mostly gloomy yesterday AND my allergies left me in a hazy funk.  Looks like the benedryl and I will be LIKETHIS until winterJ  So without further ado, here's carb day: 101J

Tuesday Recap:

10:00am:  2 mini chia pancakes

Blame this one Katie since that child was not going to be satisfied with anything LESS than HOMEMADE PANCAKES yesterday morning.  Cough, high maintenance.  So I just followed her lead and made my own little 1/4 cup mix + 1 tablespoon chia seeds mix.

11:30am:  Snack- Watermelon (not pictured...but you get it, amiright??)

12:30pm:  Lunch- 4 mini pitas with 2 tablespoons hummus

3:00pm:  Snack #2- Small handful cashews & 7 dried clementines

By now I was elbow deep in FALL DECORATIONS, so I grabbed whatever was closest so I could keep getting my FALL onJ

6:00pm:  Dinner- Spaghetti & turkey meatballs

I was DYING for this last night and it HIT the spot perfectly.  But, even as Scott said, this is definitely a "Tuesday treat," not the normJ

8:00pm:  Dessert- 2 Hazelnut cookies

OK...4, I had 4.  EKKKK!  It was just a BLAHHHHH day.  And coupled with the fact that I felt lousy, I didn't get it in any exercise either:P  So make no mistake I took benedryl before bed last night in an attempt to PULL MYSELF TOGETHER this morning.

Here's to a healthier Wednesday!

Off to yoga, ASAP...J

Namaste undone...

Morning, all!  Hope you guys had a great weekend.  Mine included plenty of pictures...just not too many of foodJ  Hahahahahahaha...it was spent going to birthday parties for two of my little cousins...

...one including a petting zoo, which was pretty much thecutestthingeverJ

And Saturday night was spent with a sleepover with my niece that involved homemade pizza...

...and pumpkin cookies, which we ate while bundled up in hoodies and pretending it was FALLJ

Oh yeah...and it was only about 2984023572032 degrees on Saturday when we took this pictures, as we were placed directly in front of the fan when we took this picJ  But thankfully the pumpkin cookies must have ushered in the COOLNESS, as the weather has been nothing short of GLORIOUS around here ever since!  MAGIC COOKIES...mwahahaha!

Andddd that brings us to Monday.  I tried to be VERY consious over the weekend and PAY ATTENTION to what I was eating (including ONE of those cookie sandwhichs), and that helped set me up for a healthier Monday...OK, with one treat in the mixJ

Monday Recap:

10:00am:  Breakfast- 12 almonds & watermelon

1:00pm:  Lunch- "Happy Salad"

3:00pm:  Snack- Chicago Popcorn

Well, it had to happen sooner than laterJ  Cheese & caramel popcorn was DYING to be tried...and it was worth the wait for sweet & salty deliciousnessJ  I used my large ramekin to keep the portion in check, but in honest, the small one would have been just enough tooJ

6:00pm:  Dinner- Taco Salad

I was VERYTEMPTED to have anything BUT salad for dinner last night, so I knew taco salad was the easiest way to 'stick to the plan.'  They're always just so damn good.

• Kale mix
• Avocado
• Ground turkey, seasoned with taco seasoning
• Diced roasted peppers
• Red beans
• Corn
• Mexican cheese blend

Workout:  Power Yoga

I took a 2 day yoga-hiatus after my Friday class BEAT ME UP, so I was SUPER ready to get back in the swing last night.  And I always love a class that ends in headstands/handstands/shoulderstands....they're just fun to mess around with.

AHHH!  AND GUESS WHAT HAPPENED AFTER CLASS!  So I was standing outside the gym talking to my yoga buddy (HI SHARON!!!!) and we were laughing about something and all of a sudden we heard a loud laugh coming towards us...we look over and a car drove by and a man was laughing at us out the window wearing A SCARY CLOWN MASK!!!!!!  I mean, WTF???  I, like MANY FOLKS, do NOT like clowns and I felt an INTERNAL LEVEL of PANIC of about 10000000!J  I've seen different 'reports' of people seeing CLOWNS STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF THIER STREETS AT NIGHT in thier neighborhoods.  Dear Jesus, please don't let this become 'a thing' this Halloween season.  I don't think my ole ticker can take itJ  

How's THAT for undoing all of my 'calm Namaste??'

So yeah...thought you'd enjoy my little TERRORJ  Make no mistake that I watched that car and made sure he PULLED AWAY before we ran off to our carsJ hahahahahhaha

ANDDDD on that note, hope you guys have a GREAT/non-terrifying TuesdayJ