Juice Cleanse

After the holidays and a very delicious but decadent weekend in Atlanta, it's time for a bit of a reset. I dusted off my juicer when I got home and whipped up a carrot, apple, and arugula juice with a squeeze of lemon for dinner last night. It was good! I was surprised that the arugula worked so well.

This morning, I went to the gym early then made a juice for breakfast and one for lunch to take to work with me. I'm hoping the lunch juice will stay fine in the fridge (I put it in a tinted plastic water bottle, although stainless steel is best). 

Breakfast:

4 Carrots

1 Grapefruit

1 Orange

Small piece of ginger

1 Apple

Squeeze of lemon

Lunch:

1 Apple

2 Cucumbers

3 Bunches of kale

2 Celery stalks

Squeeze of Lime & Lemon

(I ended up not putting the spinach in because there would have been too much volume)

Weekend in Atlanta

This weekend, I went to Atlanta for the first time. Rob has training there for ten days which means I got to visit a new city without having to pay for a hotel room! I've wanted to check out Atlanta for a while now and am so glad I finally went. The city is way bigger than I had expected and full of all sorts of people. We had some amazing meals (most notably at 246 in Decatur, Fritti in Innman Park, and Highland Bakery), saw a hilarious improv show at Dad's Garage, and explored the city. I really, really loved everything I saw (and ate) and hope to go back and visit again soon!

Mural in Decatur (there are TONS of murals everywhere!)

Massive salami sandwich and pile of fries at 246

Most amazing bok choy I've ever had, plus two toasts with ricotta and veggies @ 246

Carmelized onion, pancetta and hot pepper pizza + arugula and proscuitto pizza @ Fritti

Corn-cilantro cakes with black beans, fried eggs, and queso fresco @ Highland Bakery (huge portion!)

Fried Chicken Benedict and amazing home fries @ Highland Bakery

New Year

Well, it's been nearly a month since my last post. The holidays have come and gone and all of a sudden, it's 2013. I spent a week in New Jersey with Rob and his family for Christmas and the time went by too quickly.  We visited Gillian one afternoon in Bethlehem and it was so nice to drive through a town that I spent so much time in as a young girl. Being there made me miss my grandmother more than usual, but the timing was right - Christmas was a holiday we spent with her, and it felt good to be in a place full of memories of such a wonderful woman.

Christmas in Bethlehem

Good old days with Grandmommy

Christmas Eve

Rob and I came back to Charlotte on December 30. He's all moved into our apartment now, which is exciting and somewhat scary - when did we become adults? We spent NYE at Dilworth Neighborhood Grille with a bunch of our friends. It was very crowded and the night is somewhat of a blur (oops) but we all had fun. 

Yesterday, we saw This is 40, were involved in a hit and run (everyone is fine and so is Rob's new car, miraculously!), and had a yummy chili dinner with Brett and Joe. In 2013, I want to focus on just being healthy and happy. 2012 was such a great year and I have high hopes for the next twelve months - hopefully I will spend more time with my family (and less money on clothes). I'm a lucky girl with some amazing friends, an adorable pup, and a guy who supports me no matter what. Here's to 2013! 

Oy vey, Happy Hanukkah!

Today is the third day of Hanukkah. I'm terribly sad to be celebrating the holiday alone this year (although Rob will be here Wednesday for the fifth night) since lighting the candles alone is a bit depressing...I think my menorah fits in pretty well with the apartment's other Christmas decorations/Tucker's stocking, right?

Saturday night, I ordered a pizza (solo) and poured myself a glass of wine for dinner. I felt like an old single lady and I loved it. SVU marathon plus pizza? Sold. After an exciting couple of hours, some friends and I went to a "Sloppy Santa" party at a bar near my apartment. Said party was ridiculously fun. Many of my coworkers and friends from Davidson were there, so it was a grand old time.

The entirety of Sunday was spent on the couch watching Downton Abbey. I am obsessed. Any scene with Mr. Bates and Anna ends with me crying. They're absolutely perfect and I love them and I hate Mrs. Bates!

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Bates in real life with a baby!

 Later this week, I'll be preparing a Hanukkah feast...but more on that later.

December

December has been pretty busy so far! Last night, a bunch of friends from work and Davidson went to a Salvation Army charity event called Second String Santa. I went last year, but this one was a lot more fun! The band was great and I think everyone had a fun time.

In other news, Tucker has been acting up a LOT this week (eating everything in sight), but I still adore him.

Lastly, congratulations to Rob for finishing his last classes of graduate school and BUYING HIS FIRST CAR!!! He spent weeks and weeks and hours and days researching the perfect car and finally decided on the Chevy Cruze. Isn't he just the cutest???

Toggy Tuesday: December

1) Pajamas: With chilly weather creeping in (except in Charlotte, where is was 73 yesterday...), everyone needs a good set of pajamas. I love these sets from Victoria's Secret, but L.L. Bean has some cute ones, too. I might be biased since the VS ones were such a hit at Thanksgiving, but they are super soft and fit very well.

2) Peppermint hot chocolate: We all know the holidays are a time for indulgences. As much as I'll try and avoid packing on ten extra pounds this month, there's one thing that I absolutely love in December. Peppermint hot chocolate is absolutely delicious and is my favorite sweet treat for the winter.

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3) Hanukkah! My friends, Hanukkah starts on Sunday night. I'll be at a Christmas dinner, oddly enough, but I'm so happy that Hanukkah falls before Christmas this year so that I can light the candles and do my thing.

4) Les Miserables: The official countdown has begun and I am so so so so soooooo excited for this movie. Anne Hathaway, you are too cool.

Sweaters and Cars

This past weekend, I headed up to Winston for Rob's last fun weekend with his grad school friends (this coming weekend he will still be there, but has a 48-hour final spanning Saturday and Sunday). On Friday night, I tried to make turkey burgers but they ended up tasting like meatloaf. Not necessarily a bad thing, but just not what I was going for. I think adding mushrooms is what did it...oh well.

Saturday morning, I woke up bright and early to head to the YMCA and register for their Mistletoe 5k to raise money for childhood obesity prevention. After picking up a bib, I slept in my card for about 45 minutes before the 8:25 start time. It was really chilly - like 32 degrees - so the first mile was spent warming my lungs up. The course was hilly and full of little kids, but I had a great time! I love waking up early on the weekends and getting a workout done before breakfast.

The rest of the day was spent car shopping for Rob. We went to two car dealerships (which took about 4 hours) but we stopped at The Carving Board for lunch. I've been hearing about this place since I went abroad three years ago with some girls from Wake Forest who always talked about how good it is. Sadly, we got there just before closing so lots of the salads were out, but it was delish anyway.

That night, we went to a Christmas Sweater party at one of Rob's friends apartments. These are my favorite kind of holiday parties.

Sunday was a major recovery day. Dog park, nachos, and football. When I got home, I went over to the grocery store to pick up food for the week and ended up prepping a lot of stuff (peeling 5 lbs. of carrots, cooking up a bunch of chicken, and roasting some sweet potatoes). I had a juice for dinner because I was still feeling pretty sick.

Last night's dinner? Bacon wrapped chicken, sweet potatoes, and sauteed zucchini/kale/spinach. Yum. Time to start re-organizing the apartment to get ready for my new roomie! So excited.